Twins offense is sputtering after first week

Maybe they should dig through their spring training luggage in search of their missing offense.

The Twins mustered one run on six hits against White Sox lefthander Jose Quintana, the latest in a string of poor performances for an offense that is ranked among the worst in baseball after the season's first week.

Their one run scored Monday gave them 13 in seven games — an average of 1.9 a game.

They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Monday and now are batting a major league-worst .091 (5-for-55) with runners in scoring position.

Beside Joe Mauer (.375 batting average) and Eduardo Escobar (.370), no Twins regular is batting better than .192.

And Miguel Sano, regarded as a key player in the lineup despite this being his first full season in the majors, has yet to hit a home run. More concerning is that opponents might have found a key to attacking him. According to brooksbaseball.net, since Sano was called up last season, he's 0-for-47 on pitches in the upper third of the strike zone or above it. Sano struck out two more times on Monday, including one on a pitch that was up.

Hitting wasn't expected to be a problem when the Twins broke camp, but it is.

There might have been signs on Monday of the Twins trying too hard — or being too nervous to make mistakes.

With runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, Byung Ho Park sent a fly ball to Austin Jackson in short center field. Mauer, the runner on third, did not tag up in attempt to score. It was a tough call, because Jackson was charging in to make the catch and had all his momentum going toward a throw to home.

Eddie Rosario, however, followed with a groundout to end the inning.

"I think if I would have went, I probably would have been thrown out," Mauer said.

Eduardo Escobar led off the seventh with a single. Kurt Suzuki, instead of swinging away, tried to bunt for a hit. He popped it up to pitcher Matt Albers, and Escobar was doubled off first base.

These are only a few tales about a broken-down offense.

"I think I saw guys pressing today, and I think that is what is happening with runners in scoring position this year," third baseman Trevor Plouffe said. "Trying to get three guys in when only one is on base. We've got to take a step back in those situations and relax, get one run in. Don't try to win the game with one swing in the second inning.''

La Velle E. Neal III covers major league baseball for the Star Tribune.