The Philadelphia Phillies dropped their series opener against the Minnesota Twins, 11-7, at Target Field on Tuesday night. Both starting pitchers struggled on the mound. Kyle Kendrick (2-6) lasted just four innings after giving up six runs, all earned, off eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The Twins' Nick Blackburn (3-4) was only moderately better, giving up four earned runs off eight hits and two walks in five innings.
Denard Span hit a home run in the Twins' first at-bat of the night, and Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run homer in the second inning as the Twins took a 5-0 lead after just two innings. The Phillies responded with four runs in the fourth inning to pull back within striking distance. Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run double as part of a 4-5 performance at the plate.
Unfortunately, Philadelphia's bullpen simply couldn't stop the bleeding on the scoreboard. Joe Savery gave up three more earned runs in his two innings of relief for Kendrick, including a solo home run to Josh Willingham in the sixth inning to put the Twins up 9-7.
Philadelphia scored three runs in the top of the sixth, two of which came on a Jim Thome single to left field. The inning would cap their scoring on the night, however. The Twins finished their night with two more runs in the seventh.
Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday at 8:10 p.m. ET. Expect a much better performance on the mound for both teams, as Cole Hamels (8-3, 2.93 ERA) goes up against the Twins' P.J. Walters (2-1, 4.42) at the mound.
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