Twins Relievers

In last week’s games, in which the Twins went 2-6, these relievers gave up runs while pitching an inning or less: Lopez, Jax, Pagan, DeLeon, Stewart, Alcala, Moran. Sands was asked to pitch multiple innings, so I’ve left him off the list. The only reliever without a bad outing was Duran, and he barely pitched because the Twins weren’t in save situations. In almost all their losses, the Twins had a lead in the 7th inning, as their starting pitching continued its stellar run and the offense did just enough. But once the lead was gone, the Twins hitters were incapable of mounting a comeback. The bullpen has done well when given a very large lead to protect, as in the 6-2 win in L.A. and today’s 7-1 win over the Giants. But each pressure situation has produced a frustrating fail. As Twins announcer Dick Bremer said today, their 2-6 record could just as easily have been 6-2–if only the reliever entrusted with the lead–and it was usually the first reliever–could have pitched a clean inning. Pagan, Lopez and Jax all had the most spectacular giveaways, while yesterday Moran and Stewart each walked in a run. Manager Rocco Baldelli must be wondering, what do I do? And the starters must be bemoaning their lost wins. Never have the Twins felt the temporary loss of Caleb Thielbar so much: he seemed solid in entering a sticky mid-game situation and putting out a fire. The Twins have to hope he can come back and pick up where he left off; that Lopez and Jax will regain some of their confidence from last year; and maybe that the Twins can pick up one or two relievers by trade deadline. (Question: what became of Blake Headrick, a lefty who impressed in his brief stint in the majors?)