TWINS 101

The Minnesota Twins could not back up a solid start for rookie Samuel Deduno (5-3) as they dropped the opener of the series to the Chicago White Sox 4-2 at U.S. Cellular Field tonight.  Veteran shortstop Jamey Carroll hit his first home run of the year on a 2-2 sinker in the top of the fifth.

Deduno had another solid outing to follow up his seven scoreless innings that he pitched against the Seattle Mariners last week.  Deduno went six innings allowing only two runs, however, his offense was unable to back him up as they hit 1-9 with runners in scoring position.  You know the offense is struggling when Carroll is the main supplier of offense in the lineup.  Carroll went 2-3 with a walk and a homer, which is very rare for the light hitting Carroll.

Honestly, Deduno's only rough inning was the bottom of the second.  In the second, he gave up a single to A.J. Pierzynski to lead off the inning.  He then got the next to batters out, but made a costly mistake on an 0-2 fastball to give up a two-run homer to Gordon Beckham (13) to give the Sox the 2-0 lead.  After that, Deduno gave up another single and two walks to load the bases, but then got Paul Konerko to ground out to end the inning.  Deduno's only inning that he gave up another base runner after that was the bottom of the fifth.

The Twins' offense couldn't manufacture anything in this game and that was the reason for their downfall.  Ben Revere has been struggling a bit lately as his average has slipped down to .300.  Had he not recorded the single he did, his average would've been under .300 for the first time since June 3.  On the plus side, he recorded his 32nd steal of the season, putting him in sole possession of third place in the American League and tied for fifth in the Majors.

One batter has been stepping up lately and that is Chris Parmelee.  Since being called back up to the big league squad on August 29, Parmelee has hit 9-24 with four RBI, two homers and two doubles.  He was hitting very hot in Triple-A Rochester this year as he hit .338 with 17 homers in 64 games down there.  The Twins are looking for him to produce similar numbers up on the Major League level.

Tomorrow, the Twins will send out bad boy Scott Diamond to get the Twins back in the win column as he faces fellow rookie Jose Quintana.

Tags: A.J. Pierzynski, American League, Baseball, ben revere, chicago white sox, Chris Parmelee, Gordon Beckham, jamey carroll, jose quintana, Minnesota, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Samuel Deduno, Scott Diamond, Seattle Mariners

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