'Pen loses lead after 5 hitless to drop opener
KANSAS CITY -- For the fourth time this month, the Twins went with an "opener" followed by a "primary pitcher." The committee approach worked for five innings Thursday, but then the Royals foiled Minnesota's plans in a big way.The Twins nursed a one-run lead and hadn't allowed a hit through
KANSAS CITY -- For the fourth time this month, the Twins went with an "opener" followed by a "primary pitcher." The committee approach worked for five innings Thursday, but then the Royals foiled Minnesota's plans in a big way.
The Twins nursed a one-run lead and hadn't allowed a hit through five. But reliever
Leading 2-1, Busenitz faced three hitters and allowed a double to
"It's very frustrating, because I know what I'm capable of," Busenitz said. "So, you have to learn from it and not make the same mistakes."
After getting ahead of Dozier to open the sixth, Busenitz said he made too good of a pitch -- thus, the double down the left-field line. The back-to-back homers came with Busenitz having fallen behind in the count.
"To Salvador, I was trying to go up," Busenitz said. "Just didn't get it up. It was right down the middle. [Bonifacio] hit a full-count breaker and I just hung it."
Twins manager Paul Molitor went with reliever
Royals starter
"Too many baserunners that didn't have to swing the bat and a couple of plays that we missed," Molitor said. "It wasn't a very good game in that regard."
COMMAND ISSUES
Gonsalves wasn't about to use the unorthodox pitching order as an excuse for his control problems. He walked four and threw a wild pitch after warming up following the national anthem.
"I've got my routine when I'm a primary guy, so I feel comfortable doing it," Gonsalves said. "Tonight, my changeup wasn't there for the most part. When your best pitch isn't there, you are kind of looking around and waiting for something to pop up."
SOUND SMART
With his two-run homer on Thursday, Cave has seven homers in his last 23 games since Aug. 19. During that stretch, he's slugging .563, and 11 of his 20 hits have gone for extra bases.
HE SAID IT
"Don't be over-anxious. Settle in. We've got nine guys in the field against their one guy at the plate." -- Gonsalves, on the mindset he needs to overcome command problems and become more pitch-efficient
UP NEXT
Right-hander
Robert Falkoff is a contributor to MLB.com based in Kansas City.