Another day, another loss: White Sox sweep Twins, sending them to ninth straight loss

These days, there's less talk about baseball inside the Twins clubhouse and more about psychology.

Trying to not try too hard. Walking the fine line between playing under pressure and playing with patience. Trevor Plouffe even called himself out, saying he's been trying to hit a three-run home run with no one on base.

"You just can't do that," Plouffe said.

The woebegone Twins offense was on display once again on Thursday in a 3-1 loss to the White Sox that dropped their record to an unfathomable 0-9. The worst start in Twins history is also baseball's worst start since the 2002 Tigers lost their first 11 games. The Twins mustered just two measly runs in three games against the White Sox. Going back to Sunday in Kansas City, they have not held a lead for 29 consecutive innings.

The Twins clubhouse was library quiet after Thursday's game at Target Field, and words from within reflected a team that was part shocked, part frustrated and part embarrassed after batting .154 in the Chicago series.

"It's getting harder, I tell ya," Twins manager Paul Molitor said, "to come up with words."

At 0-9, the Twins have lost as many games in 11 days as the Golden State Warriors lost over an entire NBA season.

The Padres (16), Yankees (16) and Dodgers (15) have scored more runs in one game than the Twins have overall (14).

The Twins went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Thursday and are now 5-for-66 (.076) on the season. The Cubs' Anthony Rizzo and Giants' Hunter Pence each has six hits with runners in scoring position.

Rock bottom offense.

"I'm sure those guys are frustrated," Molitor said. "We're trying to find a way each day. You kind of absorb the loss for what it is. You replay things in your mind. As a manager, as coaches, we're looking to try to find ways to do things better, to try to get more out of these people. So we have to be accountable for the fact that we have started the season in this fashion."

The seventh inning on Thursday reflected the current state of the Twins.

With the Twins trailing 3-1, Byung Ho Park doubled to center, then Max Kepler drew a walk. With Brian Dozier at the plate, White Sox righthander Mat Latos spun toward second and had Park dead to rights. But his pickoff throw sailed into center field. Runners were at second and third.

It was the break the Twins were waiting for.

But Dozier, an All-Star a year ago, tried to pull a sinker on the outer half of the plate and tapped back to the mound to end the inning and muffle the announced crowd of 19,736.

That's how the first two weeks of the season have gone for the Twins.

Twins starting pitchers haven't been bad, posting a 3.32 ERA during the series. Righthander Ervin Santana gave up three earned runs over seven innings on Thursday, on an RBI single by Jose Abreu in the first, a solo home run by Avisail Garcia in the fourth and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Saladino in the seventh. The Twins' lone run came on Plouffe's RBI groundout in the fourth. Both Twins runs scored this series were on groundouts.

Santana said the pitching staff isn't frustrated with the lack of offense, knowing there will be days when the bats will bail them out of games.

Boy, the Twins can't wait for those days to come.

"This is where your true character will come out," Plouffe said. "I think you will see that in this team. I know you will see it from me. I'm not going to shy away from it. I'll continue to work hard and we'll get out of this funk.''