The Minnesota Twins bullpen is turning into the biggest question mark on a team still fighting for a wild card spot.
Minnesota built a five-run lead by the third inning on Sunday afternoon at Target Field.
Brooks Lee hit a grand slam in the first inning and Kody Clemens added a solo home run in the third, and the Twins looked set to cruise to a win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dean Kremer worked into the sixth for Minnesota before the Phillies started clawing back, a rally capped by Alec Bohm's three-run homer that cut the lead to 4-5.
Minnesota still led by a run heading into the eighth, when everything came apart.
Andrew Morris came on in relief of A.J. Minter and ran into trouble fast.
Bryce Harper singled, Luis Arraez followed with a ground-rule double, and Alec Bohm's single tied the game at 5 with an assist from a fielding error at first base.
Morris intentionally walked Brandon Marsh, got J.T. Realmuto to pop out, but then Bryan De La Cruz singled home two more runs and the Phillies never trailed again.
The final was 7-5, and Minnesota is left with a bullpen problem that will not go away on its own.
The Bullpen
This has been the story of the Twins bullpen for most of this season, good stretches mixed with outings that undo everything the offense builds.
There was a run in May where the relief corps thrived and looked like a real strength, and there was a loss to Colorado in June that led manager Derek Shelton to give a blunt take on the bullpen and its inconsistency.
Morris himself has been part of both versions.
He carries a 3.39 ERA in 48 appearances this season, a number that looks solid on paper but hides how shaky some outings have been in big spots like Sunday's eighth.
Minnesota went out and traded for reliever A.J. Minter at the deadline specifically to shore up the back of the bullpen, and Minter did his job Sunday with a scoreless seventh.
It was the inning right after that sank the Twins, and that split between one reliever holding steady and the next one collapsing is the inconsistency that has plagued this group all year.
What This Means For The Wild Card Race
Minnesota sits at 60-65 and a game and a half back of the final American League wild card spot, based on the standings as of Monday.
A bullpen that cannot hold a five-run lead is not built for a stretch run this tight, when close games pile up and every loss shrinks the margin for error.
The Twins do not have much time to sit with Sunday's result.
They open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Monday night at Target Field, then head out to face the San Diego Padres.
If Minnesota wants to keep pace in the wild card race, Shelton needs his bullpen, and Morris specifically, to hold leads in the biggest spots.
Sunday was not that.
Blowing a five-run lead to a team like the Phillies is a loss that gets filed away in earlier months.
In the middle of August, with the Twins fighting for their playoff lives, it is harder to shrug off.
