Listless Twins fall to Nationals again, lose third consecutive series out of All-Star break

There are no major league teams that look good when they are not scoring runs, but the Twins’ 7-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday felt like much more than one dispiriting game.

The Twins dropped all three series out of the All-Star break. Dropping two of three games to the Nationals, they were outscored 16-5 by a team with the second-worst record in the National League.

With each game holding more significance because of its proximity to Thursday’s 5 p.m. trade deadline, the Twins have scored more than three runs in only two of their past six games. They have scored the second-fewest runs in the American League this month.

“It’s always a week that you want to remain focused on just the little things in the game being played. No, it’s not that easy and it’s not that simple,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There are emotions that guys feel. Guys see their names in different places, and they start thinking probably too many things.”

Facing a Nationals pitching staff that ranks as one of the worst in baseball, the Twins had one hit in 21 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

Jake Irvin, a Bloomington Jefferson graduate, gave up two runs in seven innings during his first homecoming start. He didn’t record his first strikeout until his 24th batter, but he didn’t give up much hard contact, either.

“That was probably one of the hottest games we’ve played,” Baldelli said. “That was pretty tough on the guys that were out there working and out there on the mound, but we didn’t make him throw too many pitches. We didn’t make him work that hard. And we needed to. He was going to come at us with strikes and we didn’t attack the ball in the manner we wanted to.”

Bader advanced from first to third on a ground ball to third base, attempting to steal on the pitch and then he kept running when he saw how far third baseman Paul DeJong was from the bag.

Bader scored on a sacrifice fly, tying the score at 2-2. But the Twins didn’t have another baserunner reach third base over their final six innings.

“We hit a lot of balls at some guys and it just didn’t fall. It happens,” Bader said. “I’m pleased with the process behind the scenes. Guys want it and sometimes it just doesn’t shake out the way you want.”

This was supposed to be an easy part of the Twins schedule, a chance to revive their longshot playoff hopes, with three consecutive weekend series against Pittsburgh, Colorado and Washington, the bottom three teams in the National League standings.

The Twins responded with a combined 4-5 record against those three rebuilding teams, and they remain buried in the wild-card standings. They play host to the Boston Red Sox, one of the current AL wild card teams, for a three-game series beginning Monday.

After an out at the plate for the first out of the fifth inning, Washington’s Alex Call bounced a single through the middle of the Twins infield for a two-run single and the rout was on. The hope of a late-season turnaround with Bailey Ober and Pablo López serving as potential reinforcements for the rotation continues to dim.

Adams, who hadn’t pitched in more than a week, surrendered five runs on five hits and two walks in 3 ⅓ innings.

BOXSCORE: Washington 7, Twins 2

MLB standings

The Nationals never trailed on Sunday. CJ Abrams greeted righthander Cole Sands, who was the Twins’ opener, with a home run on the game’s first pitch.