Twins still struggling to reward staff with clutch hits

MINNEAPOLIS -- If you feel like the Twins are stuck in their own version of “Groundhog Day” right now -- you’re not alone in that.

The current time loop: Quite a strong outing from a starting pitcher, plus missed opportunities by the offense, plus an unlucky effort or off night from a reliever, plus a clutch hit by one team or the other. Sometimes, that equals a win. Sometimes, that equals a loss -- as it did when the Cubs pulled away late during what had been another tight contest in a 6-2 Twins defeat on Friday at Target Field.

Either way, they know they have to bust out of this all-too-frustrating cycle.

“It feels like we’ve played a very similar -- really the same -- game routinely right now,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think our guys are handling the pressure of dealing with these close games actually reasonably well, and I like that, and I think it toughens you up a bit as the season goes on.

“[But] we need to create some separation in some of these games, because over time, you can’t play like that every day and expect the bullpen to be able to hold.”

The offense has been the primary culprit in this string of close games, as the Twins were held to two or fewer runs for the 14th time this season, tied for third in the American League. The Twins’ run totals in their last seven games have been 2, 3, 0, 1, 4, 5 and now 2. To their credit, they’ve won three of those games, because the pitching has been that good, with Minnesota's staff ranking second in the Majors in wins above replacement, per FanGraphs.

“We're pitching ourselves into every game, basically, is what's going on here, and that's great,” Baldelli said. “That's one of the main and most important objectives when you start a season, to find a group you can hand the ball to and they keep you involved and they keep you competitive in every single game.”

What gives the Twins hope that this will eventually turn around for their offense after, once again, they scored their only runs on a botched fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly and had a pair of Carlos Correa double play grounders in important situations?

For a while, they were decidedly unhappy with the quality of their at-bats -- and some of that still remains. But on a day like Friday, they felt they were hitting the ball hard -- just right at defenders. Their expected batting average as a team was .313 (36 points higher than the Cubs) but they were outhit, 11-4. That’s what encourages them for now.

“It's kind of one of those games where they played every position and it seemed like they were in the right spot when the ball was hit,” Byron Buxton said.

But the pitching can’t always be perfect -- and close games magnify those days when someone is off.

Setup man Griffin Jax has had much more than his share of bad luck this season, but this wasn’t one of those games, as the Cubs made loud contact on three of their four consecutive hits as part of their go-ahead, two-run rally in the seventh inning before they pulled away with a Christopher Morel homer in the ninth off the suddenly homer-prone Jorge Alcala.

But there’s been a lot of pressure on that bullpen every day, as the Twins have played only close contests for more than two weeks. The last game that even remotely resembled a blowout occurred on April 27, when the Twins beat the Royals, 7-1.

They hope this eventually serves them well in higher-pressure games later in the season. But that’s little solace right now as Minnesota struggles to capitalize on ever-solid pitching.

The Twins are still in first place, and Baldelli said the pressure doesn’t feel as magnified on the team as a whole because of how good the pitching has been. But eventually, they just need to score enough runs to take that pressure off the pitching staff, which also has confidence that the offense will turn around.

“I personally don’t feel like there’s no wiggle room,” said Sonny Gray, who allowed one run and struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, throwing 94 pitches. “I feel like, even if we do give up a lead, I still feel like we’re going to win the game. I have all the confidence in the world in those guys, and things will start turning around for us, there’s no doubt about that.”