For the third straight game, the Minnesota Twins‘ bats were virtually silent as they lost 8-1 to the San Francisco Giants Sunday at AT&T Park, and were swept in the three-game series for just the third time this season, the Star Tribune reports.
The Twins got just four hits and one run against Giants starter Madison Bumgarner and two relievers Sunday afternoon. Their only run came in the third when Brian Dozier hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Eduardo Escobar.
Twins starter Ricky Nolasco (2-5) had another poor game, giving up a season-high seven earned runs on nine hits and one walk, and his ERA has shot up to 6.12.
The Giants broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth against Nolasco, who was already in a four-run hole.
Nolasco walkedBumgarner and allowed two singles to load the bases.He retired the next two batters, but then gave up a base-clearing double to Michael Morse down the left-field line which made the score 7-1. The Giants added one more run in the eighth inning, according to MLB.com.
Over the three-game series the Twins only scored four runs compared to 16 by San Francisco, which has the best record in the National League. And another telling statistic – the Twins were 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position during the series.
The Twins are below .500 again with a record of 23-24. They open a four-game series with the Texas Rangers Monday afternoon at Target Field.
After the game, the Twins sent outfielder Chris Colabello to Triple-A Rochester, even though he’s the team leader in RBIs with 30, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Colabello has been in a slump for the past month. He started strong and had a batting average of .359 in mid-April. But now he’s down to .232 and hasn’t had a hit in his last 23 at-bats.
The Twins also need room on the roster for outfielders Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia, who have been recalled and will rejoin the team on Monday. Catcher-outfielder Chris Herrmann was also sent down to open up the other spot.
Willingham and Arcia were both injured in the same game on April 6, and have not been on the Twins’ roster since then.
