Lament the way the 7th inning unfolded. After Jason Marquis escaped the sixth inning -- when a smash by David Ortiz was turned into one of the nicest double plays we have ever seen courtesy of a Jamey Carroll dive and Trevor Plouffe turn -- we were internally pleading with the baseball gods to say, "That's enough, Jason." He's a classic No. 5 starter, a veteran who can coax out of his arm exactly what he had delivered to that point: 6 innings, 3 runs, a chance to win. With an overworked bullpen, we understood the urge -- and the ultimate decision -- Ron Gardenhire made to bring him back out for the 7th. But we also felt the outcome, Marquis leaving the game in worse shape than he left it in the 6th, was inevitable. That was where the game turned.

Lament the final outcome, determined by what Matt Capps thought was a pretty good pitch that Cody Ross turned into his second back-breaking homer of the game.

Lament, too, the collective failure of the middle of the Twins order to plate a run after Carroll reached third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. Yes, that includes Joe Mauer.

But boo Mauer, as a rather loud gentleman kept suggesting in the restroom after a loss that dropped the Twins to 5-12?

Come on now. Mauer might have been a symbol of -- and at the heart of -- the failures in 2011. But he is far from the problem in 2012. Yes, he grounded out weakly in a pivotal at bat. Overall, though, he is hitting .313. He was 6 for his last 13 before that 8th inning at bat, with two hits already last night. He is at least more than occasionally hitting the ball with authority.

Come down hard on Mauer for his .348 average in the first six innings vs. his .222 average from the seventh inning on, as one reader suggested in an e-mail? That's a frighteningly small sample size, the kind chalked up more to chance than anything else. His career BA is .323. His career BA with runners in scoring position is .339. His career OPS during innings 7-9 is .873, which is better than his career OPS in innings 1-3.

You can't make Mauer be something other than the player he is just because he's making $23 million a year. Boo him for hitting over .300, showing some pop and not batting 1.000 in the clutch? Let's not be silly.