News
Twins, Swarzak dropped by Indians
Mauer adds three more hits, including homer, in loss
By Tyler Mason / MLB.com
08/15/09 8:49 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS -- It took less than 24 hours for the Minnesota Twins to revert back to their inconsistent ways. On the heels of an 11-run victory against Cleveland on Friday, Minnesota was on the other end of a lopsided score one day later, as the Twins fell, 7-3, in front of 33,931 at the Metrodome on Saturday afternoon. Everything that seemed to go right for the Twins in Friday's blowout victory didn't take place in Saturday's losing effort. Starting pitcher Anthony Swarzak lasted just four innings, one night after Scott Baker pitched a complete game for Minnesota. And the Twins' offense went just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position a night after tagging the Indians for 11 runs. "People talk about momentum and things carrying over and stuff, but what it all boils down to is a new day, new game, new pitchers, new circumstances," Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer said. "Today wasn't our day." Swarzak put the Twins in a hole early, as Cleveland jumped to a 3-0 lead after three innings. Solo home runs by Shin-Soo Choo and Grady Sizemore led off the second and third innings, respectively, as Swarzak struggled to keep the ball down in the zone. "I felt real good the first two innings, then just kind of hit a wall, couldn't fight my way through it," Swarzak said. Swarzak's day only got worse in the fifth, as he walked Sizemore on four pitches to start the inning and gave up a single to Jamey Carroll before giving way to reliever Brian Duensing with two men on and no outs. Both runs later came around to score, as Cleveland batted around in the inning. "He didn't command anything," Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire said of Swarzak. "His fastball and breaking ball were all up. There were a lot of really hard outs. There just wasn't a good day of pitching for him." Down, 7-0, in the bottom of the fifth, Minnesota finally got on the board with RBI hits by Justin Morneau and Joe Crede. But the early deficit changed the way the Twins attacked Cleveland starter David Huff (7-6), who held them to just two runs in five innings. "Last night I think you saw us. We were aggressive, we were running the bases, we were stealing bases," Gardenhire said. "Early in the game, we put the pressure on them. Tonight was just the opposite." The Twins had plenty of opportunities to change the course of the game early but left too many runners on base. Cuddyer and Crede were unable to convert with the bases loaded in the first inning, and Crede and Delmon Young couldn't drive home any runs with Twins on second and third and one out in the seventh. "Sometimes you get them in, sometimes you don't," Cuddyer said. "Obviously, today, we didn't. I came up with the bases loaded, didn't get the job done." "When you get an opportunity, we could have made the game different early," Gardenhire said. "We had the bases loaded. A big hit, who knows? That could turn the game around. But we didn't get the big hit." The loss for Swarzak (3-6) was his third in a row. The rookie was given a spot in the rotation late last month when starter Kevin Slowey was put on the disabled list with a season-ending wrist injury. But since winning his first career start back in late May, it's been a rocky ride for Swarzak in his first year in the Majors. "It's been a rough few starts, for sure. It's frustrating," Swarzak said. "It's to the point where I feel like I'm letting my teammates down and letting my coaches down and letting myself down at the same time. I just feel like I need to figure this out and hopefully turn it around." The hope Saturday was that Baker's shutout the night before would spark the Twins' rotation, which certainly could have used a shot in the arm. But Swarzak was unable to build off of Baker's gem just one game later. "I think Baker pitched a great game last night and showed me everything that I needed to do today, and I just couldn't execute," Swarzak said. The Twins had no need to draw from their bullpen Friday, but three relievers were called upon Saturday after Swarzak struggled early. Duensing allowed two runs in relief, but Bobby Keppel pitched two scoreless innings and Jeff Manship pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in his Major League debut. Joe Mauer added a solo homer -- his 22nd of the season and fourth in August -- in the ninth to cut the deficit to 7-3. He finished the day 3-for-5 to raise his average to a Major League-best .378. "Mauer is unbelievable," Huff said. "I tried to throw everything at him today. The only time I got him out was a changeup that I accidentally left up around the letters and he hit it straight up in the air. I guess that's what I need to do -- I just need to start making mistakes to him." Mauer's solo blast was too little, too late for the Twins, who will try to salvage the series Sunday with Nick Blackburn on the hill. Cleveland will counter with starter Aaron Laffey.Tyler Mason is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
