Here are three thoughts following the Twins' 4-3 loss in 10 innings to the Rangers.

1. Too bad they sent out Chris Parmelee this week: The Twins' rotation is a mess, and it trickles down to their bullpen. I'm not blaming them for sending Parmelee down when they called up Samuel Deduno, but I bet Gardy would have loved to send Parmelee up to pinch hit when Joe Nathan faced the bottom of the order in the ninth inning.

2. Brooks Plouffe. He did have a throwing error. But I think Saturday was his best ever day at third base. He made three plays that made me nod in approval. It's good for the Twins that he looks like he's comfortable there.

3. Willingham's defense: He's here to mash. Repeat. He's here to mash.

Bonus note: Tonight's loss to Texas evens the all-time series at 249-249. But Twins media relations maven Dustin Morse pointed out that the Twins have outscored the Rangers 2,226-2,224 in the series. Now that I have delivered that semi-useless information, I'll show myself out, thank you.