Bursting out to an early lead against the Yankees was not enough for the Twins as they couldn’t hold on and lost 6-5. It appeared that the momentum of the Royals series was still carrying them, but the Yankees kept scoring and the Twins didn’t.
The Twins were able to put 4 runs on the board in the 1st, jumping to an early 4-1 lead. With the bases loaded, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Delmon Young hit consecutive RBI singles, followed by a Mike Lamb groundout that scored the 4th run. However, that lead would disappear and the only other run would come via a Justin Morneau solo homer in the 8th, his 10th of the year.
Starter Glen Perkins was not his usual consistent self tonight. After giving up a run in the first, he gave up another in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th to tie it up. He left in the 5th, without recording an out after giving yet another run. He didn’t look good at all, giving up those 5 runs on 10 hits, 2 walks and no punchouts. The bullpen surrendered what became the decisive run in the 7th.
The loss tonight has to let alot of air out the tires after such a thrilling sweep of the Royals. Perkins was not on top of his game at all and that is something he will look to correct in his next start. It’s only the 1st game of the series, so there’s plenty of time for more wins.
