Road trip finishes at a dead end

Only one Twin reached second base in a shutout by Toronto, but the White Sox haven't pulled away in the AL Central.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III , Star Tribune

Last update: September 5, 2008 - 12:00 PM

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TORONTO 9, TWINS 0

Up next: Three-game series vs. Detroit at the Metrodome • Game 1 at 7:10 tonight • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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TORONTO - The Twins couldn't wait to get out of Canada after Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.

Some talked before the game of seeing their kids again. Others spoke of sleeping in their own beds.

They should hope there are other perks waiting for them in the Twin Cities, such as better execution, moxie out of the bullpen and their clutch hitting strokes.

The Twins struggled on the road before they took off on this 14-game road trip. After getting slammed 9-0 by Jesse Litsch and the Blue Jays, they head home with a 5-9 record on the trip -- including a sweep by the Blue Jays -- and proved once again that as soon as they leave the Metrodome, they can be had. They are 31-40 on the road, 17th in the majors.

"Guys are reeling a little bit," Twins catcher Mike Redmond said "It was a little bit frustrating out there, even for me. I was frustrated tonight. But that happens when you want to win and you want something so bad. You're going to get frustrated."

During the trip, there were four walk-off losses. Three blown saves by closer Joe Nathan. Eight losses by a total of 12 runs. A .248 average with runners in scoring position, after they led the majors with a .311 average before the trip.

Opponents were handed extra outs during several games on the trip. After winning the first two games of the trip at Los Angeles, the Twins lost nine of the past 12.

"We got what we deserved on this trip," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "If you don't execute and you don't catch the ball, if you miss plays and you walk guys, you end up getting losses late in the ballgame."

There is one silver lining: They left the Twin Cities on Aug. 20 one game behind the White Sox in the AL Central. They head back only 1 1/2 games back. That's all.

They are fortunate that their stretch of bad baseball coincided with some poor play by the White Sox. The Twins, 46-23 at the Metrodome, open a six-game homestand tonight when they play host to Detroit.

"In my mind [1 1/2 games back] is a pretty good trip, although we had opportunities to win a lot of games," Redmond said. "We have to look at that now and focus on that.

"We've got a shot. This is a great team. When we play with energy and we bring that energy every night, we are tough to beat."

On Thursday, the Twins were dominated by Litsch (10-8), who held them to four hits and two walks with three strikeouts as he tossed the second shutout of his career. Nick Punto's double in the third inning was the only time a Twins player reached second base all night. Litsch then retired 21 of his final 23 batters to improve to 3-0 in his career against the Twins. Toronto has won nine in a row against the Twins and is 8-1 against them at Rogers Center since 2005.

Twins righthander Kevin Slowey (11-9) gave up three runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings, including a solo homer to Travis Snider in the fifth.

For much of the season, the Twins have talked about how they have had short memories following distressing losses and losing streaks.

Here's their biggest challenge of the season: seeing how short their memories are after the longest road trip since 1969 finished with a thud.

"The desire is there," Gardenhire said. "The fight is there, but we can't make mistakes and we made too many mistakes late in ballgames. That ends up costing us."

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