Three Twins postgame thoughts from LEN3: Rotation, Buxton, Sano

Here are three thoughts following the Twins' 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay in Thursday

ROTATION NEEDS TO STEP UP: The Twins finished 6-4 on this road trip, but is sure wasn't because of strong starting pitching. Twins starters posted a 5.27 ERA over the 10 games, and that's not going to get them to where they want to go, Consequently, the bullpen entered Thursday having thrown the third-most inning in the AL since they began the trip. Only two starters - TWO - pitched more than six innings. Tyler Duffey's strong outing in Baltimore BY FAR was their best outing of the trip. ``Obviously as starters, we want to get at least six innings and we haven't been able to do that." The nice thing about a 10-game trip is that it is two full turns through the rotation. Here's how many innings each starter threw on the trip, in order of appearance:

Kyle Gibson: 10.2

Mike Pelfrey: 10.0

Erin Santana: 10.1

Tyler Duffey: 13.0

Tommy Milone: 10.2

BUXTON HAD A ROUGH ONE: Byron Buxton was pinch hit for in the ninth inning after striking out four times. ``It wasn't happening for him tonight," Twins manager Paul Molitor said, `` and I thought the best chance was to get someone else up there and give him some swings, given the way his night had gone." Molitor said it looked like Buxton was having trouble seeing the ball, and I agree. Buxton was swinging and missing 91-mph Drew Smyly fastballs as if he was facing a 21-year old Frank Tanana. And Buxton has been more dangerous against lefties. Twins outfielder Torii Hunter spoke to Buxton after he was taken out. ``I told him I've been there before and you don't have to like it," Hunter said. ``You try to make it your last one, although it's probably going to happen again. Don't worry about it."