Not a lot of hits

Through the end of July, the Twins were on pace to collect only 1,344 hits this season, which would be their fewest (in a non-strike year) since 1968. Fewest hits in a full season by the Twins:

1968: 1,274

1967: 1,309

1966: 1,341

2013: 1,346

Or sacrifices, either

Partly because of their lack of baserunners, and partly due to the team's personnel and changes in the game itself, the Twins are also utilizing the sacrifice bunt at near-record lows. The Twins had sacrificed only 13 times this season, which projects to only 19 over 162 games. The only full season in which the Twins have ever had fewer than 20 sac bunts was in 1998, when they had 18. (The team record, by the way? An astonishing 142 sacrifices in 1979.) And this year marks a falloff from manager Ron Gardenhire's usual pattern:

2002: 34

2003: 42

2004: 46

2005: 42

2006: 31

2007: 34

2008: 52

2009: 51

2010: 38

2011: 31

2012: 33

2013: 32