Late Night: San Francisco 6, Twins 2

A multiple exposure of Tim Lincecum's unique delivery

Box score here

Game story here

Back in April, the Twins were pretty successful in turning a bunch of walks into runs scored. Not so on Friday, when they drew seven walks — six of them off two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum — and added seven hits but managed just two runs.

Two runs won't win many games, and certainly aren't enough when paired with the fielding and pitching problems that afflicted the Twins.

Kyle Gibson had allowed one home run in his previous starts combined; the Twins pitching staff as a group hadn't allowed a homer in seven games. The Giants hit two longballs of him Friday.

Trevor Plouffe and Eduardo Escobar had infield misplays that connected to four runs allowed. Outfielders Jason Kubel and Chris Parmelee left their feet in unsuccessful attempts to catch/cut off balls that got past them for triples.

Just not a well-played game by the Twins.

Late Night: Twins 5, San Diego 3

Kurt Suzuki (8) slides home after an unnecessary
sprint around the bases in the eighth inning. 

Box score here.

Game story here

OK, Kurt Suzuki's inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning really did clear the left field fence. It's more memorable this way, with the Twins catcher sprinting his way around the bases while Padres outfielder Seth Smith lollygagged. Smith knew what the umpire didn't: That ball was out.

And, of course, there's no sense in reviewing it. Either way, Suzuki has a home run.

Other comments on Tuesday's West Coast game that lasted well past midnight here:

* Kevin Correia was perfect through four innings, then highly imperfect in the fifth, then threw another shutout inning in the sixth. Jared Burton came in with two on and no outs in the seventh to save Brian Duensing's bacon.

The great Joe Posnanski wrote recently about a proposed alternative to the current wins-losses system, and it makes a good bit of sense. I wondered if what Pos calls the "Tango" would give the win to Burton. Answer: No. Correia's six-inning, three-runs outing would still trump Burton, six points to three. Burton gets no extra credit for stranding those two inherited runners.

* Those are some ugly batting averages in the Padres lineup: The cleanup hitter (Chase Headley, who in 2012 led the National League in RBIs) is at .194, and that was followed by averages of .200, .163, .193 and .204. And by and large, those are full-time players, guys who've had some success in the majors. It's like looking at a 1968 lineup. Incredible.

Late night Twins game: Oakland 8, Twins 6

Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe takes a tumble on the
bullpen mound Thursday night while chasing a foul ball
in the expansive space in the Oakland stadium.

 Game story here.

Box score here.

Trevor Plouffe took an 0-for-5 Thursday in that sewage-oozing dump in the Eastbay they now call the O.Co Coliseum. (One would think, at this point, that corporations would pay to NOT have their name attached to the place.) Then he left the game nursing a sore left wrist that has apparently bothered him much of the season.

Thursday's struggles (and Wednesday's 0-for-4 in Chicago) shouldn't mask his impressive surge at the plate of late. Plouffe entered the game hitting .358/.380/.493 in September and had muscled his way into the third spot in the batting order. This kind of September performance by a player on a team out of the race used to be called a "salary drive," and with Plouffe eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, the phrase probably fits.

For the season as a whole, his numbers remain pedestrian: .249/.302/.397, with 14 homers. It's been a bit of a step backwards for him at the plate.

Defensively, he's improved. The plus-minus and runs saved metrics I've cited here in the past have him as essentially playing league-average defense at third base, which would be markedly better than in 2012.

Of course, nobody really expects Plouffe to remain the Minnesota third baseman much longer, not with Miguel Sano climbing the ladder. Some figure Sano will have the job as early as April, some figure he'll come up in mid season, but he's coming. And Plouffe isn't good enough to keep him out.

One can envision Plouffe shifting into in a super-utility role: Some outfield time, some first base, some third base, some DH, maybe even a few middle infield innings here and there when the team's behind and offense is more important than defense.

But for that to work, he's going to have to hit more than he has this season. A OPS under .700 won't cut it.

Late night: Twins 3, Mariners 2 (13 innings)

Chris Colabello launches his two-run homer in the
top of the 13th inning Friday night.

Box score here.

Game story here.

A couple of good games from a couple of guys who really needed something to go right for them.

Minor league slugger Chris Colabello -- a mere 5-for-37 in his brief major league career, all singles, entering the game -- hammered a two-run homer in the top of the 13th for the decisive runs.

And Scott Diamond, who came into the game with a 5.53 ERA, gave the Twins six innings of one-run ball. Ron Gardenhire had indicated in a radio interview earlier in the day that Diamond was running out of chances, but the lefty kept the Twins in the game.

Still, it's not difficult to spot the flaws in Diamond's outing. He faced 27 hitters and threw a first-pitch strike to exactly a third of them. He threw 57 strikes and 44 balls, not exactly a prime ratio. And he had just one strikeout in his six innings.

The big picture results were good for Diamond. The process, however, was not.

---

Much of the pregame chatter on the Interwebs was about the Twins announcement that Joe Mauer, whose paternity leave expires today, would not report to the Twins in Seattle this weekend but will rejoin the squad on Tuesday when they start a home series against Kansas City.

I don't have a problem with this. Yes, the Twins are a better team with Mauer playing. But no one game, or two games, is going to make or break their season. They're obviously not making the playoffs. The Mauer twins were born about five weeks premature, and if it's worth it to him to forfeit a quarter of a million dollars in salary (pro-rated, his salary is a bit more than $125,000 a day) to spend today and Sunday with his wife and daughters, who am I to argue?

His absence gives Chris Herrmann a couple more days to get at-bats. I don't regard that as a terrible thing in the long haul.

Late night: Mariners 8, Twins 2

Kevin Correia walks back to the rubber as Nick Franklin
rounds the bases with his three-run homer in the second
inning. Correia didn't get through the inning.

Box score here

Game story here

This one was over early.

Kevin Correia gave up six runs in the second inning Thursday night; he faced 13 batters, eight of whom reached base, four of them with extra base hits. Not a good start by any standard.

Correia ended April with an 2.33 ERA; it's now 4.56 and rising. His ERA since the start of May is 5.60.

I had hoped that he'd be pitching well enough to draw some trade interest this month; I can't imagine that happening.

Late night: Twins 10, Angels 3 (10 innings)

Chris Herrmann (12) is greeted at home plate by
Ryan Doumit, Clete Thomas and Justin Morneau after
the rookie catcher's 10th inning grand slam.

Box score here.

Game story here.

More proof, if any was needed, that you really can't figure baseball.

Chris Herrmann only caught Tuesday night because Joe Mauer was on his way back to the Twin Cities because his wife went into labor with their twins.

And in the 10th inning Herrmann busted the game open with a grand slam. For the game, Herrmann was 3-for-5.

In his extremely limited major league playing time this season, Herrmann is hitting .409/.458/.727. In Triple A, he was hitting .227/.297/.312.

The word via Twitter from the beat writers was that Drew Butera was to get the paternity leave callup. Presumably Ryan Doumit will be anchored in right field (anchored is the ideal verb to describe Doumit as an outfielder). I harbor no illusions that Herrmann is a .300 hitter, much less a .700 slugger, but I sure hope he gets most of the time behind the dish in Mauer's absence.

Late night: Twins 4, Angels 3

Ryan Doumit breaks up a double play that would have
ended the second inning without a run. The Twins
wound up scoring twice in the frame.

Box score here

Game story here

On his pregame radio show Monday, Ron Gardenhire twice described Angels starter Joe Blanton as "a contact guy." This was in explaining why minor-league veteran Doug Bernier was in the lineup instead of Jamey Carroll.

Joe Blanton is having a lousy year, and it didn't get any better Monday; the Twins knocked him out in the fourth inning and drove his ERA up to 5.66.

But Blanton entered the game with 93 strikeouts in 112.1 innings, a K/9 rate of 7.5, just 0.1 off the league average. (None of the nine men who have started games for the Twins this season  is above 5.1 K/9.)

I have to admit, I'm baffled by how horrible Blanton's season has been. He has a league average strikeout rate; he has a very low walk rate. On Monday, he walked two in 3.6 innings, but one of those was intentional, and he struck out four. He has 3.35 strikeouts for each walk on the season, and it's almost impossible to have that good a ratio and still have bad results.

But Blanton is doing just that. One problem, obviously, is the long ball -- Blanton served up his 24th gopher ball Monday night. Another, if Monday night is any indication, is the sloppy defense behind him. The play shown in the photo above, for example; if the Angels had turned that double play, Blanton gets out of the inning unscathed. Instead, the inning was extended, and the Twins scored twice.

Late night: Twins 6, Brewers 5, 14 innings

Aaron Hicks is greeted in the Twins dugout after scoring
the eventual winning run in the 14th inning. Hicks had
a home run and a double Tuesday.

Box score here.

Game story here.

The Twins and Brewers rode the see-saw Tuesday night.

Highlights for the Twins included a homer-saving catch by Aaron Hicks off Carlos Gomez (and Gomez' cheerful doffing of his batting helmet in salute of the play, another example of Gomez' endearing enthusiasm); homers by Hicks, Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit; and Ryan Pressly's three-strikeouts-in-two-innings relief stint for the win.

And Milwaukee shortstop Jean Segura deserves notices for his six hits (seven at-bats). Segura is now hitting .365; the first five men in the Brewers batting order Tuesday left the game hitting .301, .365, .309, .311 and .326. Batting average is just part of the offense, but a string of .300 hitters isn't a bad foundation to build on.

Still, one marvels at the inadequacy of the Milwaukee first basemen. To be sure, the Brewers have lost Corey Hart and Mat Gambel to injuries, but still ... they've been playing shortstops at first most of the season, Alex Gonzalez and Yuniesky Betancourt. Neither is a particularly good hitter for a shortstop, and as first basemen they are simply pathetic.

A major league organization ought to be able to do better than that at first base.

Late night: Twins 7, Oakland 2

Darin Mastroianni had two hits, two runs scored, two
RBIs, a stolen base, a sac fly, a sac bunt ... and a good game.

Box score here

Game story here

A good start from Brian Duensing, his best start this year and arguably his best since 2010: six innings, two runs, one earned, five hits, one walk ... and seven (!) strikeouts.

Replicate that a few times in these final weeks and he may keep himself in the rotation discussion for 2013.

Pedro Florimon had a perfect day at the plate: 3-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. He's now hitting an even .500 through four games with the Twins (6-for-12).

Obviously, he's not that good a hitter. Nobody is. He has an extensive minor league track record that establishes that he's a weak hitter.

He's looked good in the field, by and large, although he had a sloppy throw Monday that resulted in the unearned run charged to Duensing. For a glove-first shortstop, that is probably a bigger minus than any of his hits were a plus.

Late night: Seattle 3, Twins 2

Don't give Phil Cuzzi too big a piece of your mind,
Gardy, you may need it later.

Game story here

Box score here

I love watching Scott Diamond pitch, and this was in many ways a typical Diamond start. He threw strikes (64 percent); he got ground balls (the MLB box score says nine GB outs, two fly ball outs); he didn't walk anybody. It feels like nitpicking to note the low strikeout tally (two), but the Ks matter.

Diamond entered the game with the lowest walk rate among qualifiers in the majors, 1.3 walks per nine innings. He lowered that slightly Saturday.

But Jason Vargas has a very similar start for Seattle. Both lefties threw 6.2 innings, both allowed nine baserunners, both had just two strikeouts. MLB says Vargas got 10 GB outs, four flyouts.

But Vargas kept the ball in the park; Diamond gave up a home run.

Ultimately, the game came down to Tyler Robertson, who continues to struggle as the Minnesota LOOGY. He came in for the ninth and gave up a single to leadoff man Michael Saunders (lefty); couldn't get the out on Brendan Ryan's bunt; and walked Dustin Ackley (lefty).

Two left-handed hitters and a right-hander who was trying to give away an out, and he got none of them.

As the Twins look toward 2013, that job is one that needs an upgrade from its current holder, whether by returning Brian Duesning to the role, finding a different performer or finding a way to make Robertson more effective.

Late night: Seattle 5, Twins 3

Shortstop Pedro Florimon went hitless in his first
game with the Twins, but he turned in some
nice defensive plays, including this catch in
the seventh inning.

Game story here

Box score here

Another brutal start from Nick Blackburn on Friday night: 5.1 innings, 11 hits (four for extra bases), five runs, one strikeout. Seattle's slugging percentage for the game off Blackburn: .703.

His ERA for the season is 7.39. One has to wonder how much longer this can go on.

My guess: Until September, when the rosters expand —and the likes of Liam Hendriks and P.J. Walters will be available to fill a rotation spot. At that point, if Blackburn hasn't shown signs of turning this around, it will be easy for Ron Gardenhire to push him aside for the rest of the year and look at other candidates for the 2013 rotation.

The thing is, Blackburn is certainly a candidate for the 2013 rotation — if only because he's going to be paid $5.5 million next season no matter what he does. The Twins would love to see him earn the money. I'm sure he would love to earn it too.

It just appears increasingly unlikely.

Late night: Rangers 4, Twins 3, 13 innings

Josh Willingham dropped to the ground while leading
off first base in the fourth inning Sunday when a
bolt of lightning struck near the ballpark in
Arlington, Texas.

Box score here

Game story here

The Twins were one strike away. Numerous times.

We can lay the blame on Brian Dozier, whose error opened the ninth inning disaster. But even after that runner scored, Glen Perkins had a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth.

Then: Single, double, single — the latter two with two strikes — and the game was tied.

Too many bad pitches to good hitters. Or too many good pitches to good hitters. Perkins threw 28 pitches, and 25 of them were strikes.

But let us give credit to Cole DeVries. The Minnesota native shut out the best team in the American League for seven innings  — three hits, one walk, five strikeouts. Very sharp pitching performance.

He now has an ERA in the majors of 3.00 after five starts and one relief outing, a total of 30 innings.

We all know how desperate the Twins are for starting pitching, and an ERA of 3.00 almost certainly means more chances for DeVries. But we shouldn't expect him to maintain it; even with that very nice ERA, he's surrendered six home runs — one long ball every five innings. Nobody can feed the gophers that often and keep a respectable ERA. One of those stats has to give, and his minor league record, and his mediocre velocity, say it will be the ERA that gets worse.

He may never have a game this good again in the majors. But he certainly has this one.

Late night: Tigers 5, Twins 1

Brian Duensing was charged with two
earned runs in 4.1 innings Wednesday,
but with better defense behind him
neither run would have scored.

Box score here

Game story here

Another day, another rain delay, another starting pitcher down.

On Tuesday, the Twins demoted Liam Hendriks and brought back Cole DeVries. On Wednesday, they sent Nick Blackburn and his 8.10 ERA to Rochester and added reliever Casey Fien. This move left a question regarding who would start Sunday against the Rangers.

Then Brian Duensing, who was pitching better than his line score indicates, got nailed in the ankle by a line drive and limped off the field. DeVries, who was scheduled to start Saturday, wound up working two innings (28 pitches). I would now expect DeVries to start Sunday, but that merely moves the starter vacancy up a day to Saturday.

It's a mess. The Twins entered Wednesday with a five-game winning streak, but they had had just one quality start in those five games. The All-Star break and its four days off can't come quickly enough for this patchwork rotation and overworked bullpen.

Duensing is said to have a bruised ankle, no fracture, and presumably will be able to take the ball after the break. Also presumably, P.J. Walters, slated for his second rehab start this weekend, will rejoin the rotation.

At a guess, after the break, the rotation will go Scott Diamond, Francisco Liriano, Walters, Duensing and DeVries. But that is based on the supposition that Walters is ready and Duensing's ankle isn't worse than initially reported.

Late night: Twins 8, Tigers 6

Joe Mauer had a homer, double and single Tuesday night.

Box score here.

Game story here.

Just another game for Joe Mauer: 3-for-5, seven total bases, three runs scored. His slash line is now .332/.420/.464.

But Nick Blackburn was terrible again — a four inning, six-run start that again taxed the bullpen. Blackburn's ERA is now 8.10.

The Twins have been far more patient with Blackburn than they were with Francisco Liriano or Liam Hendricks. I don't know how much more patient they will be.

Late night: Twins 7, Blue Jays 6

Friday's game was delayed one hour and 51 minutes by rain,
which made it impossible to get the result in the print edition.

Game story here

Box score here

Nine walks. That's the key number for the Twins in this game — they drew nine walks from the Toronto pitchers. The Blue Jays pitchers threw 174 pitches, a figure that should make somebody's arm throb.

Which is how they could be out-homered four to zero and still come away with the W.

Nick Blackburn had a serious gopher ball problem, giving up three dingers in five innings. He also walked three men himself. Five earned runs in five innings ... he got credit for the win (his first since last July), but he shouldn't feel good about his outing.

But the bullpen was pretty solid. Glen Perkins wasn't sharp, but the three right-handers (Alex Burnett, Jared Burton and Matt Capps) each threw shutout innings.

Burnett is having an interesting season. His ERA is down to 2.89, about half what it was last season, but his hit rate and home run rates aren't improved, and his strikeout rate continues a steep decline (7.0 K/9 in 2010, 5.9 in 2011, 4.3 to date this year). But he's also knocked his walk rate under two per nine innings.

Friday marked his 14th appearance of the season, but only the second in a game the Twins won, and the first time, I believe, that he was entrusted with a lead. Not that the starters have turned a lot of leads over to the bullpen.

Late night: Twins 3, Mariners 2

Ichiro Suzuki spins around after flailing at strike three
from Matt Capps in the ninth inning.

Game story here

Box score here

It has been said that more baseball games are lost than won -- meaning that it was mistakes by the losing team that decided the game. Such would be the case in Friday's game, when Seattle coughed up a 2-0 lead by walking consecutive batters and screwing up a perfect double play opportunity.

The Twins scored three runs in the seventh inning, and only one ball -- Chris Parmelee's double -- was hit out of the infield.

And once they had the lead, the bullpen -- Brian Duesning, Glen Perkins and Matt Capps -- was stellar. Each worked a perfect inning. Capps struck out of the three men he faced, including Ichiro Suzuki.

Seattle does not have a strong lineup, so I'll avoid lavishing praise on the pitchers. They got out hitters they should get out. Carl Pavano used just 69 pitches to work six innings, an efficiency that speaks to the lack of polished, professional hitters in the Mariners lineup. (Pavano was pulled after the long top of the seventh; it was a chilly evening in Seattle.)

The Twins broke a 25-inning scoreless streak and a 13-inning hitless streak. The Twins had been 0-for-47 before Jamie Carroll singled in the first inning. Parmelee's double was the Twins first extra-base hit since Monday.

Late Night: Weaver no-hits Twins 9-0

Jered Weaver and Chris Iannetta celebrate after the
last out of Weaver's no-hitter.

Game story here

Box score here

And the season just gets worse for the Twins. They have an off day today, and I expect to see some changes.

Begin with Liam Hendriks. He couldn't make it out of the third inning on Wednesday. That's two straight poor starts for the rookie, and his ERA is an even 9.00.

The starting rotation is the single biggest problem on this team; none of the starters have been effective. Hendriks is the easiest to change out, and also the one with the best future. Let him learn in Triple A.

Potential replacements: Either Anthony Swarzak (moved out of the bullpen) or Scott Diamond (now in Triple A.)

Hendriks can be optioned. Matt Maloney cannot, but his ERA (after getting two outs and a bruise on his calf from a line drive) is 7.36, so there's a real good chance he'll clear waivers. I think the Twins will find out. I hope they can keep him; he may be a Quadruple A pitcher (good in the minors, not good enough to pitch in the majors), but I still believe he can be an asset in the majors. He isn't right now.

Another guy who'd have to be waived is Clete Thomas, who has now struck out 16 times in 28 plate appearances with Minnesota. The Twins are carrying him rather than Ben Revere as an outfield reserve because Revere can't throw and the use they have for an extra outfielder is in right, but Thomas isn't getting it done.

Chris Parmelee probably isn't going down just yet, if only because of the uncertainty about Justin Morneau, but Parmelee's average is down to .220 and he hasn't had a hit since his beaning. He hasn't had an extra base hit since April 19.

Most of these are minor moves. One starting pitcher, a position player who's been in the lineup about half the time, a bench guy and a long reliever. Changing them out isn't going to turn the Twins season around.

But something's got to give.

Late night: Angels 4, Twins 0

Francisco Liriano is pulled in the sixth inning
Tuesday after 91 pitches.

Box score here

Game story here

The spin offered by Ron Gardenhire and Francisco Liriano is that Liriano wasn't bad.

My take is that he wasn't good — better than he was before his week of bullpen sessions, but that's not saying much. He still had a mediocre ball/strike ratio (40 balls, 51 strikes), threw first-pitch strikes to just 12 of his 25 hitters, walked three men in 5.1 innings, hit another, gave up a pair of homers ...

None of that suggests fastball command to me. That's what I need to see to be encouraged.

---

Sean Burroughs was designated for assignment to make room for Drew Butera on the 25-man roster. Justin Morneau's wrist is inflamed and has fluid build-up, which doesn't sound good, but he's not going on the disabled list and may even be in the lineup today.

I was surprised Burroughs got the ax; I had expected one of the pitchers to go. But I was rather surprised Burroughs made the team to begin with, and I never did see what his role was. He never really looked good enough at the plate to threaten Danny Valencia's playing time.

Late night: Angels 4, Twins 3

C.J. Wilson allowed just six baserunners in 7.1 innings,
but three of them scored.

Box score here

Game story here

Nick Blackburn was pretty good for Nick Blackburn -- three runs in six innings, one of them the result of Josh Willingham losing a ball in the lights -- but C.J. Wilson was better. As he should be; Wilson is simply the better pitcher.

I keep expecting Wilson to get hurt -- his delivery displays what is known in some circles as an "inverted W," which is thought in those circles to put undue strain on the elbow -- but he has survived two full seasons in the rotation plus extended playoff runs.

More significant, perhaps, than the outcome of Monday's game was the mid-game departure of Justin Morneau with wrist soreness. How serious it is, is unknown. Ron Gardenhire said Morneau will fly back to see a hand specialist.

A handful of other points:

*Chris Parmelee got his first start since his beaning. He didn't play against Kansas City, in part because the Royals started a pair of left-handers, and Gardenhire is limiting Parmelee's exposure to southpaws. But he started against Wilson, one of the tougher lefties in the league, in no small part because Joe Mauer finally sat out a game.

Parmelee got hit by a pitch to open the three-run seventh inning rally against Wilson, which is probably a good sign in that it suggests that he's not flinching away from lefties. He did go 0-for-3 against Wilson and lefty reliever Scott Downs.

* Alexi Casilla doubled Parmelee home, and earlier had a single and two steals. He singled with two outs in the ninth. After the game of April 22, he was hitting .227; since then he's 8-for-16 and he's at .300.

* Jared Burton relieved in the eighth and blew through the inning on just nine pitches. He now leads the team in appearances with 11, although there are three others with 10 and another with nine. Gardenhire has generally avoided using his relievers on consecutive days, although Burton did so Sunday-Monday.

Ex-Twins in the news: Luke Hughes, axed by the Twins a bit more than a week ago, played in four games for Oakland and now has been designated for assignment by the A's. He went 1-for-13 and committed three errors, so it's difficult to defend his play there.

Still, Oakland gave him the boot to make room for Brandon Inge, and I see this as going with the the guy they know can't play rather than the guy they think can't play.

* Delmon Young was suspended seven games by MLB for his New York arrest.

The Tigers put Young on the restricted list after the incident, a move apparently forced by the new collective bargaining agreement.. It's definitely different from the way the Tigers handled Miguel Cabrera's drunken arrests (2009 ans 2011). Of course, Cabrera is a star; Young is not.

Late night: Twins 13, Angels 5

Danny Valencia receives congratulations in the dugout
after scoring a run in the fourth inning.

Box score here

Game story here

In last Monday's print column, I made reference to how many triples the Twins had allowed this year, citing that as evidence of the flawed outfield defense.

The Twins won Friday night in Anaheim despite allowing three more three-baggers. Three triples allowed in a game is a lot. We can divvy up the responsibility three ways:

• Michael Cuddyer misplayed the first off the right field wall (falling down in the process).
• The second, to right-center, became a triple in part because Ben Revere doesn't have a quality arm in center field.
• The third went to left-center, and Rene Tosoni was the outfielder who couldn't hold Erik Aybar to two bases.

The first, I think, should have been limited to two bases. The other two might have been ... if Revere could throw, or if Tosoni had cut the ball off.

This is a sort of hidden effect of outfield range, the ability (or inability) of outfielders to limit base hits to singles or doubles. Revere has great range, but we've seen several examples of teams taking bases they wouldn't consider taking on other outfielders.

Obviously, those triples didn't stop the Twins from winning. They did make life a bit rougher on Carl Pavano, but it also has to be noted that the Angels outfield defense -- which boasts a pair of multi-Gold Glove winners in Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells -- did their pitchers no favors either.

Hunter was charged with an error  in the fourth inning, and Wells should have been on the following at-bat (Luke Hughes was credited with a double instead). And center fielder Peter Bourjos failed to hang on to a Trevor Plouffe drive to the wall in the sixth inning; that was also scored as a hit.

---

Tragic number: Eight.