ARLINGTON, TEXAS - The Twins' pitching was such a mess on Monday that only two of the six pitchers who appeared in the game put up a goose egg -- and one of them just appeared in the All-Star Game as a first baseman.
Michael Cuddyer had to come in to pitch the eighth inning, to prop up a bullpen that already is pitching on fumes, to get the Twins off the field and eventually into the showers to try to rinse off the shame following a record-setting 20-6 bludgeoning by the Rangers. Their 20 runs on 27 hits are both highs in the majors this season.
"The first five innings looked like a zip code," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "So that tells you how it went for us. I think that's somewhere in New York."
Actually, it's somewhere in Fort Lauderdale.
The Rangers' scoring line over the first five innings went three, three, five, three, four. The Twins were on their fourth pitcher by then -- and on their way to one of their worst beatdowns ever.
Texas' 27 hits set a Twins record for hits allowed in a game. The 20 runs tied the second-most they have given up in a game.
It was less than a month ago -- June 27 -- that the Twins gave up 15 runs on 25 hits to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"You never expect a game to go this way," said Texas infielder Michael Young, who was 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. "When you have a game like this, you reminder yourself of what it's like to be on the other end. I've been on that end before. We have a lot of respect for that team. It's a very professional team and has always been that way. Obviously, we expect a much tougher game tomorrow."
