BALTIMORE -- I'm not sure how to rank the Twins concerns after Saturday's 8-2 loss to the Orioles.
I'll say: 1) their offensive slumber against two mediocre pitchers; 2) the holes shown in their defense Saturday; 3) the disappearance of Fort Myers Frankie.
Francisco Liriano had a brilliant spring, and he backed it up by striking out the side in the first inning. But he he was done by the fifth. He needed 74 pitches to get through the fourth, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits.
"I was getting behind in the count too much," he said. "Made a couple of mistakes. I thought I still made some good pitches. I worked through some things. But some hits got through."
Catcher Joe Mauer said, "The first inning, yeah, he was tough. He made a pretty good pitch [to Adam Jones, leading off the second]. The ball was down in the zone, and Jones hit it out. After that, [Liriano] was a little all over the place. But I still thought he threw the ball pretty well. After that, they didn't hit them that hard but the balls were finding holes and sometimes that happens."
I agree that the defense let Liriano down tonight. He didn't pitch as poorly as the line makes it look. But it would have been a good time for him to don that Superman cape and carry an otherwise flat team. The first inning was electric. The next three were anything but.
