Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before Sunday's loss that he was fatigued during the three-game weekend series against Detroit that followed a 14-game, 15-day trip. The Twins returned to Minnesota around 1 a.m. on Friday and had a game that night, a day game on Saturday and another day game Sunday.
"I'm honestly tired, mentally drained, trying to figure out how we can straighten a few things out," Gardenhire said. "It just eats on you. The road trip was long and all and you get through it, but it seems like it's non-stop here. ... I am gassed. I'm tired. (Saturday's late-inning loss) really wore you out. After watching that at the end, to play such an intense game all the way up and then boom, boom, I couldn't sleep last night." Gardenhire canceled batting practice Friday and Sunday, with the team hitting in the batting cage instead, in an effort to give the ballclub as much rest as possible, and several players mentioned Monday's off-day -- Minnesota's first at home since Aug. 14 -- as a possible cure for what's been plaguing the team during a 4-11 stretch.
Outfielder Denard Span said that while the off day will be valuable, weariness is not a viable diagnosis for Minnesota's recent woes.
"We're fighting for a pennant race. There are no excuses," Span said, his team now 2 1/2 games back of Chicago in the American League Central and 6 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race. "I don't think anybody in here would say they're tired right now. It's a long season, it's the end of the season, but this is for everything."
TIGERS 7, TWINS 5: Glen Perkins had a two-run lead entering the sixth inning but surrendered a solo home run, a single, two doubles and a walk. He left the game with the score tied at 4, but Minnesota's bullpen couldn't hold Detroit's lineup from there.
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