Twins stumble in snoozer

Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune

Denard Span stole second in the third inning when he arrived well ahead of the throw to Tampa Bay second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

Boof Bonser was wild on the mound, Denard Span was shaky in right field and the bats were missing in action against the Rays.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: April 18, 2008 - 12:15 PM

Print this story

TAMPA BAY 7, TWINS 3

More from Twins

Twins righthander Boof Bonser couldn't make pitches. Denard Span couldn't handle balls in right field. Rays righthander Jason Hammel, in the rotation only because ace Scott Kazmir is injured, looked like an established pitcher.

Twins fans were given little to cheer about Thursday; the loudest roar of the night came when a replay of the Wild's first goal against Colorado was shown on the scoreboard.

After that, fans slumped back into their seats to watch the rest of the Twins' 7-3 loss to the Rays. A season-low announced crowd of 14,781 watched the Twins lose for the fourth time in their past five games.

Many of them walked out of the klunker during the final innings -- presumably to get home in time to watch the third period of the hockey game.

"Kind of one of those rough nights on the mound,'' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Bonser had his worst start of the young season, as he was knocked out in the fifth inning after 72 pitches and six earned runs.

But Gardenhire went home worried about his bullpen after reliever Brian Bass left the game after 14 pitches in the fifth inning because of a lower back strain. Bass, who replaced Bonser, motioned to the dugout for assistance after intentionally walking Eric Hinske. Matt Guerrier replaced Bass.

Gardenhire will confer with General Manager Bill Smith, but he sounded like he wanted to call up a pitcher from Class AAA Rochester to make sure his bullpen is full.

"[The doctors] don't think it is going to be long-term,'' Gardenhire said, "but we're a little short now. We used both of our long guys, and one of them is hurt now.''

It was just another problem piled onto what Gardenhire saw Thursday.

The first batter of the game, Akinori Iwamura, reached second when Span lost his soft liner in the lights in right field, stuck his glove out where he thought the ball was going but had it tick off it for a two-base error.

"I saw the ball off the bat,'' Span said. "As it came down, I went blind and could not see it anymore. So I moved out the way.''

Iwamura scored on a groundout, and the Rays added a run in the second to take a 2-0 lead.

Bonser (1-3) had only one 1-2-3 inning as Hinske homered for the second consecutive game and other Rays hitters found holes. Tampa Bay led 3-2 in the fifth when Bonser's night ended.

The first four Rays hitters singled, with Jason Bartlett scoring on Carl Crawford's single to make it 4-2. Bonser walked B.J. Upton, forcing Gardenhire to bring in Bass. Nathan Haynes singled to right, scoring two and making it 6-2. That's when Span committed his second error.

Bonser wanted to stay in and try to get out of the jam, but Gardenhire already had motioned for Bass.

"It was my worst [outing] so far,'' Bonser said, "but I still thought I could stay out there.''