Red Sox take advantage of ailing Twins' generosity

Injuries have robbed Minnesota of some of its offensive punch, and Boston made good use of a steady supply of baserunners.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: May 6, 2007 - 10:07 PM

Righthander Sidney Ponson allowed too many baserunners Sunday and didn't field his position well. The lineup was missing one batting champion and one 100-RBI man.

The Twins still managed to be within one swing of tying the team with the best record in the American League.

The cobbled-together batting order couldn't cobble together one more run, leading to a 4-3 loss to Boston on Sunday. The Twins dropped two of a three-game series in which they didn't have batting champion Joe Mauer for two games and cleanup hitter Michael Cuddyer for three because of injuries.

The Twins have lost four of the past five games and 10 of the past 16.

The Twins held the Red Sox to seven runs in the three games at the Metrodome. That should have meant at least a pair of victories, but the Twins produced only five runs while batting .193 during the series, continuing a trend of inconsistent offense.

Mauer, hitting .353, could have helped, but the catcher might miss three weeks because of a left quadriceps muscle strain. Right fielder Cuddyer plans on returning Tuesday after recovering from a bruised back. Left fielder Rondell White, another regular, is out indefinitely because of a torn calf muscle.

So the Twins are going to get plenty of practice at playing without key hitters. Instead of sounding beaten down after Sunday's game, the Twins were encouraged they nearly came back from a 4-0 deficit.

"That's what we need," Cuddyer said. "Nobody on this team is scared to go out there and play to the last out."

The way things are going, the Twins might not be at full strength the rest of the season, so playing error-free games is paramount. That didn't happen Sunday.

Ponson (2-4) allowed 13 baserunners (eight hits, four walks and a hit batter) in 5 1/3 innings. He still had a chance at holding the game at 2-0 through five innings before his fielding let him down.

With runners on first and third, Ponson nearly made a nice stab of J.D. Drew's comebacker that could have started an inning-ending double play but the ball kicked off the heel of his glove. Ponson picked it up and threw wildly to second. Both runners were safe as a run scored to make it 3-0. Boston took a 4-0 lead two batters later on Jason Varitek's RBI single.

"I just tried to rush the throw to second instead of making a nice, easy throw to second," Ponson said.

The Twins looked hopeless against Red Sox starter Curt Schilling (4-1) until the seventh when they got a two-run single by Jason Tyner and an RBI single by Torii Hunter, who extended his career-high hitting streak to 21 games.

That one big swing never came after that, and Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save.

Now here come the White Sox and Tigers this week as the Twins prepare for a long stretch without Mauer.

"Other guys have to step up and get it done," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We are just going to have to find ways to score runs."

Mauer heading to DL

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La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com

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