In terms of terrible starts, it doesn't get much worse than it did for Scott Diamond today. Pitch after pitch, replay after replay, Diamond continued to lay the ball right over the plate where Blue Jays hitters continued to demolish almost everything. When the dust cleared, Toronto notched eight hits off him in just 4.2 innings of work. Diamond also walked four and was, in the end, charged with six runs. With an ERA in the mid 5s, it's safe to say that this is not the season that anybody wanted.
The Twins did manage a little offense of their own. Aaron Hicks temporarily gave Minnesota the lead with a two-run blast in the top of the fifth. It was big considering Colby Rasmus had just launched a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth. It didn't last, of course. Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run shot in the eighth, but it was far too little and far too late.
Toronto was 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while the Twins were just 1-for-9. That pretty much tells the tale, and the best thing to do for my sanity is to just chalk it up to "one of those days". Everything the Blue Jays swung at was hit hard, and too many of those balls in play found grass. Or seats.
Bullet Point Highlights
- In his last ten outings, Diamond has recorded just two quality starts and is sporting a 6.49 ERA in that period.
- Plouffe has now hit four home runs in his last nine games.
- He's been back for just six games, but Hicks is going through a relatively good stretch: .286/.348/.476 in those 21 at-bats.
- Clete Thomas checks enough boxes to fill the role of fourth outfielder. At the plate his on-base percentage continues to fluctuate around .333 - which, with Justin Morneau, ties him for fourth on the club behind Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia.
- Casey Fien threw another scoreless inning. He was the only effective pitcher for the Twins today.
- Small sample sizes kill relief pitchers. Three appearances ago, Brian Duensing's ERA was 3.81. After three trips to the hill and six runs in 3.2 innings, it's ballooned to 5.06.
Studs
Casey Fien
Trevor Plouffe
Aaron Hicks
Duds
Scott Diamond
Anthony Swarzak
Josh Roenicke
Brian Duensing