Ugh

Carlos Silva (8-11, 6.45 ERA) lasted just 5.1 miserable innings Tuesday night, giving up ten hits - five of which cleared the wall. He allowed six runs in all, walking two Orioles and striking out no one. Nick Markakis (3 for 4) was the first to hit a home run off Silva, a blast to center in the first inning (9). He hit another (10) in the third (this time to right) to make it a 3-1 game after Brian Roberts smashed one to left (7). That wasn't the end of Baltimore's scoring for that inning, either. A Jay Gibbons double that scored Miguel Tejada brought the game to 4-1.

But it's only a three run lead, right? The Twins can come back from this minor deficit. Silva always needs a bit of cushion anyway. Oh, no. Here comes that pesky Markakis again. Believe it or not, he hit another one over the centerfield wall (11), bringing the score to 5-1. Corey Patterson then smoked a liner to right to lead off the sixth, widening the gap on the scoreboard. Baltimore 6, Twins 1. Apparently, this was still not enough to convince Rick Anderson that it was time for Silva to exit the game. Only a Kevin Millar single would finally break the camel's back. Willie Eyre (5.77 ERA) came in and pitched 2.2 good innings. He managed to K one and allow only one hit, one walk and no runs.

For Baltimore, it was The Adam Loewen show (4-4, 5.57 ERA). He pitched an outstanding eight innings, giving up only one run on four hits, striking out seven Twins and walking no one. Minnesota really didn't see any action at the plate (excluding Lew Ford's RBI forceout in the second) until LaTroy Hawkins took the hill in the ninth. With a walk putting Nick Punto aboard, Joe Mauer tripled (2 for 4) and put another RBI under his belt. He then scored on a Michael Cuddyer ground out, and Twins fans were given a glimmer of hope. Justin Morneau then walked and it was up to Torii Hunter to get another run or two on the board for Lew. He struck out swinging on three pitches to end the game. He did, however, record his 1,000th career hit on a broken-bat single in the second inning. Way to go, Torii!

VS.

All the club can do now is put this game behind them, knowing how much it sucked and look forward to Wednesday night when they put Matt Garza (0-2, 11.74 ERA) out there in his third Major League start against Rodrigo Lopez (9-12, 6.03 ERA). Garza seemed to have improved in his last start against Cleveland, giving up only three runs on five hits, striking out five batters. Let's see if he can lower his ERA a little more and get a W on his record, in his very first ML road game.