As the Minnesota Twins have started to hit the skids, a lack of offense has been the biggest culprit. On Friday against Texas, the offense and defense were both to blame on a night when starting pitcher Tommy Milone was solid.
Minnesota's offense managed just two runs -- the sixth straight game in which they've scored two runs or fewer -- and the defense cost the Twins four more runs in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers. It extended Minnesota's losing streak to a season-high four games as the Twins continue to search for answers following an impressive run last month.
Since the Twins' 20-win month of May, Minnesota's starting pitching has surrendered 3.91 runs per game. The offense, on the other hand, has scored just 2.45 runs a night. It's hard to fault Milone for the end result of Friday's contest.
Milone and Texas starter Wandy Rodriguez were locked in a pitchers' duel for most of the game before Milone served up a two-run homer to Elvis Andrus with one out in the seventh inning to make it a 2-1 Rangers lead. But Twins second baseman Brian Dozier tied the game four pitches into the top of the eighth inning with a solo homer, apparently giving Minnesota a second life.
The Twins had chances earlier in the game to add on more runs but couldn't capitalize. Minnesota had the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning but managed just one run on a sacrifice fly. After that, the Twins couldn't do much of anything against Rodriguez as a pattern of offensive struggles continued.
"We seem to be continuing to press a little bit at the plate," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We put the rally together right out of the chute. The way things are going, I was happy with the one run because we haven't even been doing that as of late. . . . The pattern is that we're not putting together very good innings as far as starting and completing and pushing runs across, no matter who's out there."
The offense was a problem for most of the game. The defense -- which had been solid in recent weeks -- became a problem in the eighth inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Texas' Mitch Moreland lined a shot to center field. Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks appeared to have a read on it as he retreated toward the warning track.
But the ball glanced off Hicks' glove and allowed two runs to score as the Rangers took a 4-2 lead on the miscue. Later in the inning, two more Texas runs came around to score as the one error wound up making a four-run difference.
"He's played really good defense since he's been up here," Molitor said. "We don't have a lot of issues about how he's going about playing defense. He's still striving for consistency offensively. It's just one of those mistakes that came at a critical time in the game, obviously, and he didn't make the play. But, overall, he's been running down the ball really well out there."
During the Twins' last four losing seasons, quality starts like the one Milone had Friday -- just two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings -- were hard to come by. Minnesota's lack of good outings from the rotation cost the Twins many games, even on nights when the offense and defense were clicking.
Friday was the latest example of how a sputtering offense can make a solid pitching performance go for naught.
"It kind of blew up on us there in the last couple innings," Molitor said. "The game turned in a hurry."
FOX Sports North's Jamie Hersch contributed to this report.
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