Some leftovers from another ugly getaway game for the Twins:

— It's hard to believe, given that the Tigers have outscored the Twins 56-23 this season, that the teams could have been tied in the AL Central standings if the Twins would have won on Thursday. But that was one point that manager Paul Molitor tried to make after the game — the Twins believe they are a lot better than they have played against Detroit. They are 17-9 against everyone else this season, and 12-7 against the other AL Central teams.

— Molitor went to the mound in the mound in the seventh inning, after J.R. Graham surrendered two triples and a home run to the first three hitters he faced, but it wasn't to remove the righthander. For one thing, Molitor didn't want to tax his bullpen further in a game that already appeared lost. "I wanted to give him a breather [and] some encouragement. It's part of learning up here," Molitor said. The manager told his rookie pitcher " 'to get back on the horse. Don't back off, go right after them.' … He's had a lot of good outings, it was just a rough one today."

— Trevor Plouffe missed a hard-hit grounder in the second inning, and made a bad throw in the third, just his second and third errors of the season. "It was a bad day for me today. I should have made both of those plays," Plouffe said. "I made [Mike] Pelfrey work harder than he needed to. … I'll be frustrated till I shower, then I'll forget about it and get ready for the Rays." Plouffe has had one two-error game in each of his five full seasons in the majors, but never more than one.