By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins had so many weaknesses last year that Glen Perkins’ performance as a setup man stood out as a real strength. They were so sure of the lefthander’s abilities, they rewarded him last month with a three-year, $10.3 million contract.
(PHOTO: Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer blocked the plate and tagged out Texas Rangers base runner Adrian Beltri at home in the 6th inning in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Rangers won, 4-3. )
But on Sunday, Perkins was high on their growing list of concerns after he blew a two-run, eighth-inning lead in a 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers at Target Field.
The Twins were six outs from avoiding a sweep, knowing they could salvage a 3-3 homestand before heading on a daunting seven-game road trip to New York and Tampa Bay.
Liam Hendriks held the Rangers to one run over six innings, and newcomer Clete Thomas endeared himself to an announced crowd of 32,093 with a two-run homer and a big defensive play in right field.
Perkins entered with a 3-1 lead, and three batters later it vanished. Ian Kinsler walked, Elvis Andrus tripled and Josh Hamilton hit a two-run homer an estimated 449 feet to a spot high in the upper deck above right-center field.
“It stinks,” Perkins said. “Liam did a good job. Our hitters got us enough (runs) to win the game, and I didn’t do my job.”
The Twins would have been less concerned if Perkins hadn’t struggled Saturday, too. He entered that game with the Twins trailing 4-2 in the ninth and gave up two runs.
Last year, Perkins generated more strikeouts per nine innings (9.49) than all but 11 American League pitchers. This weekend, Perkins faced eight batters and didn’t record a strikeout. He threw 25 pitches and generated one swing and miss.
Manager Ron Gardenhire thought the key Saturday was Perkins’ inability to locate his slider. On Sunday, Perkins got ahead in the count to Kinsler 1-2, then threw two off-speed pitches for balls. After that, he threw exclusively fastballs.
Perkins fell behind in the count to Andrus 2-0, before the Rangers shortstop tripled. And Perkins threw only one pitch to Hamilton — a 93-mph heater that was high and over the plate.
“If I locate that pitch, he’s out,” Perkins said. “If I throw that where I was trying to throw it — down and in and off the plate — he’s going to swing at it just like he swung at it there. He likes to swing the bat. But a hitter like that, that’s what happens when you make a mistake. I mean, that’s a fastball right down the middle.”
Perkins, 29, didn’t have too many moments like this last year, when he went 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA. In fact, he allowed only two home runs in 61 innings pitched.
The Twins were counting on Perkins to be at his best again this year, especially heading to Yankee Stadium and Tropicana Field, two ballparks where it’s very hard for visitors to hold late-inning leads. The Twins like what they’ve seen in recent outings from Jared Burton and Matt Maloney, but there’s nobody they’d rather turn to late in a game than Perkins.
“You walk the leadoff guy, that’s trouble automatically,” Gardenhire said. “And then he gets behind the next guy (Andrus) and has to throw something, and we get in pretty deep after that.”
Yes, the Twins are 2-7 now, heading to Yankee Stadium, which isn’t exactly the shallow end of the pool.
