Call up a Triple-A pitcher and get a Triple-A outcome from start to finish. Everything from Denard's dumb decision to try stretching a leadoff double into a triple in the first inning to the sloppy infield play to some sorry at-bats to the scary finale in the eighth when Michael Cuddyer went flopping after a ground ball, Jose Mijares twisted his knee after a slow start toward first and Cuddyer just missed having his hand stepped on when he was it to tag the base.

Glen Perkins pitched like a Triple-A guy and home plate umpire Mike DiMuro called the game like a Triple-A ump.

There were other minor-league moves: The inability to turn a couple of double plays and a lousy throw from Cuddyer to Orlando Hudson after Perkins had caught Juan Pierre off first base.

Then, atop all of that clownishness, the Twins reported that 12 percent of the roster is banged up. Mijares with his twisted knee, J.J. Hardy with the recurring sore wrist and Jon Rauch with a sprained toe that either occured when he was closing out Tuesday's game (Gardy's version) or when he may have kicked something afterward (Dan Gladden's version).

Just when you think stuff is heading in the right direction...

Wednesday's follies should hasten the urgency of finding relief help and I'm a bit skeptical of Hardy's assertion that he thinks he can avoid another long-term absence. (I'm hoping to be wrong about that one and I'm also OK with Alexi Casilla as a fill-in.)

Also, I'm still trying to find overwhelming evidence that Perkins somehow "found himself" recently in Rochester. There were a couple of clunkers mixed in among the good starts that had people hopeful. Time to hope that Kevin Slowey is ready to go on Sunday and doesn't force the Twins to use a Plan C.

When you look at Rochester's team stats, the only conclusion to draw is that Nick Blackburn's numbers in his two Red Wings starts haven't been as impressive as the statistics, Perkins had been more impressive lately than Jeff Manship and there simply wasn't another option. (The Twins would have been using Blackburn on three days' rest instead of four, but that wouldn't have been a deal-breaker if the Twins thought he was ready to return.)

But there's little that happened Wednesday that can't be medicated with a victory in the series finale.