Twins pitchers left meat on the bone in a winnable series against Yankees

The Twins dropped four of five games at Detroit nearly two weeks ago, and their prospects for a rebound looked bleak because they were headed to red-hot Toronto before returning to Target Field to face a Yankees team with baseball's best record.

The results are in after winning two of three against the Blue Jays then dropping two of three to the Yankees. While the Twins stopped their downward spiral and still hold on to first place in the AL Central, they should be cursing themselves for a Yankees series that was there to be had.

The Twins were once leading 7-3 on Thursday but the Bronx Bombers scored seven runs on the Twins bullpen to win 10-7 and take the series. It was troubling because the offense clobbered five home runs off ace Gerrit Cole while taking what was believed to be a comfortable lead.

But the Yankees were who we thought they were — the best team in baseball. And the Twins bullpen let them off the hook. The first four relievers used on Friday — Jharel Cotton, Joe Smith, Jhoan Duran and Jovani Moran — were scored upon as New York's dominance over the Twins continues. Every time the bullpen door swung open Thursday, trouble was on the way.

Don't pacify yourselves with the thought that going 3-3 against the Blue Jays and Yankees is acceptable. It is not. Especially when the Twins left meat on the bone this week.

All three Yankee starters in the series got on the team charter following the game smarting from the clubbing the Twins gave them. In 10 1/3 innings, Yankee starters had a 13.11 ERA in the series while giving up eight home runs. The 4 1/3 outing by Nestor Cortes, Jr. on Wednesday was the deepest a Yankee starter pitched in this series.

What does this say about these Twins?

One, they did shake off their worst baseball of the season in Detroit, when they lost four of five games.

Two, they showed their resiliency in Toronto. In addition to having several key players on the injured list, they had to place outfielder Max Kepler and relievers Caleb Thielbar, Emilio Pagan and Trevor Megill on the restricted list because they weren't vaccinated. Yet they took two of three from Toronto in a series I'm still not sure how they pulled off.

Three, they can hit good pitching — or take advantage of good pitchers when they are off. This mini-run began when they won Sunday's game against the Blue Jays and highly regarded righthander Kevin Gausman.

Four, they can't finish the job.

So, the last four games they have faced Gausman, Jameson Taillon, Cortes Jr. and Cole — hanging a 11.57 ERA on that group.

When you handle good pitching like that, there should be lefthanded postgame toasts at least three of those nights. A lefthanded toast because the win column is on the left side.

The Twins defeated Gausman and Cortes but righthanded noob Cole Sands was in a tough fill-in role for the Twins on Tuesday.

When the Twins hit three home runs in the first inning on Thursday, that should have ignited a victory. When they slug five home runs and knock ace righthander Cole out of the game in the third inning, that should guarantee a win. The pitching didn't back them up.

In his first three outings as a Twin, Bundy, the veteran righthander, looked like King Kong Bundy, going 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA. Since then, opponents have morphed into Big John Studd against him, as he's gone 0-6 with an 8.51 ERA. The Twins might have been better off starting Joe Ryan, who is off the COVID list but who threw three scoreless innings for Class AAA St. Paul against Rochester on Thursday as the Twins are cautious about his return.

While Ryan might have faced the wrong team from New York on Thursday, Bundy gave up four runs over four-plus innings to the Yankees. Then the bullpen followed suit, ruining a splendid offensive performance.

A well-deserved series win turned into the series that got away.