Derek Shelton couldn’t be blamed for the surly demeanor he displayed during his one-minute, 15-second postgame press conference that followed the Twins’ 7-5 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon at Target Field.
Brooks Lee’s grand slam in the top of the first inning and a Kody Clemens homer in the third had given the Twins a 5-0 lead. That provided hope that Shelton’s club would salvage one of three games against a superior opponent. But Dean Kremer’s solid start was ruined by a four-run sixth inning — this included a three-run homer by Alec Bohm off Kremer — and Andrew Morris gave up three in the eighth as the Phillies took the lead.
It was the Twins sixth loss in nine games, dropping their August record to 4-10.
So how important will it be for the club to bounce back, Shelty? “Extremely.” And with that the manager’s office emptied of reporters who realized quizzing Shelton about his team’s ills were going to get them nowhere.
As agitated as Shelton might have been by Sunday’s meltdown, all is not lost. Not even close. That’s because Shelton and his team have been given the gift of playing in the American League.
Yes, the Twins’ poor play since adding at the trade deadline has put them five games under .500 and six games back of the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox. But they are only 1.5 games behind in a wild card race filled with teams that might be buried in the standings if the AL was good.
The Texas Rangers (61-63) are the third wild card team in the AL. They are followed by Baltimore (61-63), Toronto (61-65), Cleveland (60-64) and Detroit (60-64). Those teams are only a half-game ahead of the Twins.
The Twins problem isn’t that they have hit a rough patch, as much as it is they have actually had to face too many National League teams. In other words, quality opponents. The Brewers took two of three from the visiting Twins this month, walking off Minnesota in the series finale. The Phillies’ sweep makes the Twins 1-5 against the NL in August and 13-26 on the season against the Senior Circuit.
The Twins have company in this area of ineptitude. Entering Sunday, 11 of the 15 teams in the AL had losing records against the NL.
The bad news for Shelton’s team is that Minnesota will play host to a three-game series against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (74-50) beginning on Monday before playing three at San Diego (66-58) next weekend. The Padres entered Sunday holding the third spot in the NL wild card race, but the three teams in pursuit of them are all over .500.
If the Twins can get a couple of wins in those six games, they will return to facing AL opponents with a chance to regain their identity as a resilient bunch that can throw punches with fellow lightweights.
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