The Twins set a franchise record in Wednesday night’s 8-1 loss to the Royals at Target Field.
It’s an embarrassing record, but a record nonetheless.
Chris Colabello’s strikeout in the fifth inning was strikeout No. 1,122 on the season for the Twins, setting a new record for most strikeouts in a single season. The new mark is 1,127 and counting…
The record comes with 30 games remaining on the schedule, meaning the Twins are going to obliterate the record.
The 1997 Twins, who finished 68-94, set the all-time mark with 1,121 whiffs.
ESPN reports the Twins entered play on Wednesday on-pace to strikeout 1,392 times, which would set an American League all-time record. The 2012 Oakland Athletics struck out 1,387 times. The MLB record belongs to the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks, who struck out 1,529 times.
As for the game itself, the Royals didn’t do a lot of damage against Twins’ rookie left-hander, Andrew Albers, but a pair of home runs was more than enough.
Albers allowed a solo shot to Alex Gordon in the third, and a two-run homer to Salvador Perez in the fifth. Perez would hit second two-run shot in the eighth off Twins’ reliever, Casey Fien.
Albers (2-2) allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits over seven innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.92.
Justin Morneau’s 16th home run of the season in the ninth inning was Minnesota’s only offense.
Kansas City can sweep the Twins with a win Thursday afternoon. Samuel Deduno starts for Minnesota against Bruce Chen. First pitch at 12:10 p.m.
Not to pile on, but Michael Rand has some more dubious statistics for the Twins.
