This four-part series shows how the Twins have gone from a team that won six division titles in nine seasons to one that is on pace to lose 100 games. Today's is the last in the series.
It wasn't just the losing. It was the way the Twins lost.
Manager Ron Gardenhire can tolerate physical mistakes, but mental mistakes often left him fuming as the Twins fell 20 games under .500 by June 1.
Baserunning blunders. Missed signs. Rundown follies. Throwing to the wrong base. Issuing too many walks.
This sure wasn't the "Twins Way." They had a reputation for not beating themselves during their run of six division titles in nine years.
Some fans had trouble understanding Gardenhire's postgame rants about mental gaffes by Danny Valencia, Alexi Casilla, Trevor Plouffe and others, especially when the most obvious problem was the bullpen's ineffectiveness.
"[The mental mistakes] shouldn't happen," Gardenhire said late last month. "We're in the big leagues. It's embarrassing. Those things right there have to go away. We have to be a better baseball team than that."
General Manager Bill Smith has seen it, too.