Carnival in Cleveland: The Woes of the Twins Continue

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The recent inability of the Twins to drive in runs has been well documented, and the Twins were helpless again at the plate in their 3-1 loss to the Indians on Sunday. This poor showing in the series finale was made all the more glaring by the simply stunning amount of chances the Twins were given to win this game, and the series.

The Twins were gift-wrapped numerous runs off 4 errors from the hapless Indians defense, yet were unable to convert and ended the day 3-19 with RISP, making them 7-38 for the series, which is more of the same from a Twins squad that has lost 8 of their last 12 games.

The fact that this regression against the Indians is coming off of a surprisingly competent series win by the Twins at Detroit, makes Sunday’s loss all the more frustrating.

In the grand scheme of things, this series loss does not mean a great deal to the Twins, but with the Indians chasing Oakland for a Wildcard spot in the playoffs, one would hope that the Twins could at least play the spoilers.

There have been numerous bright spots in what will be a 3rd straight losing season for the Twins, the rise of Brian Dozier and the undeniable Oswaldo Arcia just to name a few, but really we are seeing the Twins team we thought we had when the season began.

The Twins have been plagued for much of the season by inconsistent (and that is putting it nicely) starting pitching, but what has been even more surprising, is how punchless the Twins offense has been. The Twins rank near the bottom of the league in nearly every meaningful offensive category, and while there have been moments of synergy, the lineup has really underperformed for much of the year.

With this said, and the uncertainty of the return of Justin Morneau in 2014, it is becoming clear that the Twins have more questions than answers as they near the end of yet another unsuccessful season.

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

While the fan base of the Minnesota Twins clamors for the hope only hype and minor league box scores can provide, it remains to be seen when one could reasonably expect the carousel of misery to end, and the Twins to return to relevancy.

(Pictured right, the current plight of a Twins fan as portrayed by Nick Swisher.)