It's giveaway day for the Twins

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is not supposed to be part of any play, but he had no choice in the first inning of Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Toronto.

Carlos Gomez ran over to right-center to grab Aaron Hill's single and fired to second in case he tried to advance. The center fielder's throw sailed by both middle infielders, past scrambling pitcher Kevin Slowey and into the Twins dugout.

"I caught the ball," Gardenhire said. "I did. I said, 'This is not good.' "

That set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Gardenhire later saw Adam Everett's throw home in the fourth die because the shortstop's shoulder still isn't 100 percent.

Michael Cuddyer misjudged a ball hit to right in the same inning that enabled a run to score.

Second baseman Brendan Harris' slow turn on a double-play attempt in the seventh allowed a runner to reach first -- and, of course, he wound up scoring.

This clunker came after an impressive series against Boston in which the Twins won three of four games. They seemed to lack a spark in front of an announced crowd of 18,110.

"I don't think there was a letdown," Gardenhire said. "I was worried about that. But the boys got after it. We just didn't get off to a good start."

The Twins were able to hold off Boston's lineup, one of the best in baseball. They are presented with a different challenge this week because the Blue Jays might have the best starting pitching in baseball. The rotation of Roy Halladay, Dustin McGowan, A.J. Burnett, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch have combined for a 3.65 ERA, fourth best in the majors.

"They aren't very forgiving, that staff," Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said.

Litsch (5-1) kept the ball down Tuesday and made few mistakes in holding the Twins to two runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. It seemed as if every batter was 0-1 against him. Litsch had thrown only 70 pitches when he was removed, and five relievers finished off the Twins from there.

The Blue Jays -- whose 153 runs this year are second-to-last in the American League -- took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back doubles by Lyle Overbay and former Twins outfielder Shannon Stewart. Stewart's double was the one Cuddyer should have caught. The other Toronto runs scored on Stairs' solo homer in the sixth, an RBI single by Aaron Hill in the seventh and a sacrifice fly by Gregg Zaun in the eighth.

Twins righthander Kevin Slowey (0-3) didn't pitch that poorly. He hit catcher Joe Mauer's glove most of the night and even worked in some curveballs his third time through the Blue Jays order. The hitting and the defense didn't have his back.

And to finish off a dull night at the Dome, the Twins bullpen allowed the leadoff batter in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to get on base.

"I didn't think we were flat," Harris said. "It's tough at the plate when you are down 0-1. We couldn't get a big inning going."