Inside Pitch: Twins Forget To Make Moves

In this edition of Inside Pitch, Terry Ryan is disappointed he didn't make a move, Torii Hunter may have ended the Twins' season, Bartlett gets a call, the Twins finally win at Yankee Stadium, and Bret Boone is shown the door. All that and more if you read on:

(Free Preview of Premium Content)

2B Alfonso Soriano? 3B Bill Mueller?

Try SS Jason Bartlett and LHP Dennys Reyes.

As the Twins survey their surroundings with the dawn of August, this is what's left to them -- promoting a minor league shortstop and signing a free agent pitcher to a minor league contract.

The Bartlett move was to come Monday after the Twins release 2B Bret Boone. And Reyes was to join Triple-A Rochester this week after an anticipated agreement on a minor-league contract late Sunday or Monday.

"We don't have that many options, obviously," manager Ron Gardenhire said after Sunday afternoon's non-waiver trading deadline passed without the Twins making a trade.

With the team sliding toward the back of the wild-card pack and in danger of being out of contention by mid-August, they may be all but out of options for improving their poor-hitting team.

"I was disappointed I couldn't help the club. I'm not going to pretend I'm not disappointed," general manager Terry Ryan said. "As the general manager, it's my job to try to right what's wrong."

But in the end, Ryan said, there wasn't a fit on a trading-deadline day among the slowest in recent memory. Teams wanted too much in return for players the Twins sought, with prized pitching prospects RHP Scott Baker and LHP Francisco Liriano among the most highly pursued.

Even with major-league pitching to offer such as LHP J.C. Romero, RHP Kyle Lohse and RHP Joe Mays, the Twins didn't get a deal done.

NOTES, QUOTES

The Twins' last, best hopes for surviving a late season run at the American League wild card might have turned with CF Torii Hunter's ankle in the first inning of Friday's 8-5 loss at Boston.

Hunter was placed on the 15-day disabled list with what was diagnosed as a strained tendon. He was expected to be out for the season.

"There is no scenario where it can be easy," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You lose Torii out in center field, and you lose a guy who's one of the motivators around here. It's going to be tough to lose him. Somebody's got to step up."

RHP Carlos Silva was denied victory for the fourth straight start Friday despite another seven strong innings of pitching (two earned runs). In those four starts, Silva is 0-2 (including a loss Friday) -- with a 2.10 ERA.

RHP Joe Mays lost 6-3 to the Yankees on Thursday and fell to 1-7 with a 5.54 ERA in his career against New York. Mays noted that he didn't help trade value, "especially if it means going to Boston. Heck, if you can't get the Yankees out, they don't want you."

The Twins' loss to the Yankees Thursday made them winless in their past six road series (10 of 13 series overall).

LHP Johan Santana's seven shutout innings Wednesday made him 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA since the All-Star break. Santana (10-5) went 13-0 in the second half last year on the way to the Cy Young Award and now has a 24-game post-break winning streak.

The Twins' victory Wednesday was their first at Yankee Stadium during the regular season since Tom Kelly was the manager back in 2001. It snapped a 10-game, regular-season losing streak there. The Twins are 2-2 in the Bronx in the postseason in that time.

BY THE NUMBERS: 0 -- All-stars among the non-pitchers on the Twins' active roster, with CF Torii Hunter on the disabled list and 2B Bret Boone being released on Monday. Everybody else in the majors has at least one.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're just not getting the hits. Over and over. We even get the right hitters up there, the big guys, and they're not coming through. Just over and over again, you wonder when it's going to stop, when you're going to drive in a run, when you're going to get a big hit." --Manager Ron Gardenhire after Sunday's loss, the Twins' fourth in a row, eighth in an 11-game road trip, and their fifth game in the past six in which the No. 3 batter went hitless.