Neal: Twins’ June struggles continue with 17-6 loss to Brewers as Jacob Misiorowski is nearly untouchable

By the end of the Twins’ 17-6 implosion against the Brewers on Friday night at Target Field, both teams had a position player pitching.

This is not the way the game was meant to be played. But it is the way managers run pitching staffs in this era. So the Twins’ Jonah Bride and Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers both were on the mount in the ninth.

“Not something that I want to see,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I don’t want our position players pitching. We do it when we have to do it. When we’re forced to do it. Jonah is a very good teammate and is willing to contribute by helping out our bullpen.”

Bride has been a very good teammate, because the Twins have asked him to pitch four times over their past 14 games, a stretch in which they are 3-11. Each time Bride has pitched, the Twins have given up at least 14 runs.

There must be a way to curb this. Penalize the team that uses a position player to lose the designated hitter the next game? Allow teams to add a 14th pitcher to the roster and ban position players from the mound?

That’s not my solution for the Twins. My suggestion: Better performances.

The Brewers made the Twins bullpen look like a playpen, scoring 14 runs over the last three innings off Justin Topa, Joey Wentz and Bride. Pablo López and Zebby Matthews are on the injured list. But there is no reason for the pitching staff to suddenly because the worst in baseball this month.

And Baldelli was playing reliever roulette on Friday, except every chamber was loaded.

“There’s nothing here that I’m saying that’s going to be directed at any one player,” Baldelli said. “That’s nothing like what I’m talking about. But as a team, we’ve got to come together as a team right now and collectively step up. Myself included, the coaching staff, all the players. As a team, we have to do better than what we’re doing right now.”

Two games were played at Target Field on Friday. One was filled with intrigue. The one I just addressed made me want to shower.

BOXSCORE: Milwaukee 17, Twins 6

MLB standings

Milwaukee righthander Jason Misiorowski was removed from his major league debut on June 12 at St. Louis after slipping on the mound while throwing a pitch because of cramps. He had thrown five no-hit innings at that point, with his fastball reaching 102 miles per hour.

Most of his outing on Friday was simply an extension.

The Twins spent the night looking at triple-digit readings on the scoreboard. Misiorowski threw 29 fastballs of at least 100 mph during the game. The Twins whiffed on heaters and looked befuddled as the 6-foot-7 Missouri native caressed the corners for called strike threes.

“I think it was a good day for ... how do you same his name? Misiorowski,” Baldelli said. “I think he simply just had an excellent day on the mound.”

The first time through the order, Misiorowski retired nine batters while throwing 11 pitches of at least 100 mph. Willi Castro ended the first inning by corkscrewing himself to the ground while swinging at — and defending against — a nasty Misiorowski slider.

Twins righthander Joe Ryan, who has pitched well enough to get All-Star consideration, matched Misiorowski with three no-hit innings, striking out five batters the first time through the lineup.

In the fourth, Jackson Chourio led off with a walk, immediately stole second, moved to third on a broken-bat comebacker to the mound then scored on William Contreras’ sacrifice-fly lineout. The Brewers led 1-0 without either team having recorded a hit.

Misiorowski took a perfect game into the seventh before Byron Buxton drew a four-pitch walk and Matt Wallner lofted a home run down the right field line.

That was the intrigue. Misiorowski began his career with a 11 no-hit innings, the first MLB starter to do so in the expansion era. And an announced crowd of 28,011 watching him get nine outs away from history. The cheers he received upon being removed from the game were louder than the cheers following Wallner’s home run.

Ryan tried to hang with him before eventually faltering. The Brewers made him work, as he threw 101 pitches in 5⅓ innings.

“How do you pronounce his name?” Ryan asked before adding. “He was great. I’ve actually seen some videos of him in the minors and he’s got some of the best stuff in the big leagues.”

Don’t worry, Rocco and Joe, I had to look up how to pronounce Misiorowski, too.

That’s what everyone, hopefully, learned Friday, despite the unwatchable action over the final three innings.

Remember the name. Jacob miz-uh-ROW-skee.