The Twins led this game 6-2 in the 8th inning, and then the bullpen took over.
After a scoreless top half pitched by Pablo López, the Twins jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the 1st inning. They even hit for the cycle in the inning. Carlos Correa led off with a double, then Edouard Julien drove him in with a triple. Max Kepler singled to drive Julien in, and then Matt Wallner blistered a liner into the seats in right field for a 2 run homer.
Julio Rodríguez got the Mariners on the scoreboard with a solo homer in the 2nd, but, after a walk, Julien and Correa combined for a nice inning-ending double play.
In the 3rd, Kepler singled and Willi Castro tripled him in to make it a 5-1 game. Then, in the top of the 5th, Cade Marlowe hit a solo homer to left.
In the 6th, Castro walked and then proceeded to steal 2nd and 3rd, before being driven in on a Donovan Solano sacrifice fly.
Jovani Moran relieved Pablo López in the 8th, ending his night. His final line was: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HR. Moran immediately walked two, and then gave up an RBI double to Cal Raleigh, making it a 6-3 game. Emilio Pagán came in and gave up an RBI groundout, then a game-tying 2-run bomb to Julio Rodríguez, 6-6.
By this point, the Twins hadn’t had a hit since the 3rd inning, and in the 8th they were sat down with 3 more strikeouts, giving them a whopping 18 on the day. If the Twins were gonna win, it would have to be a 3rd straight walk-off.
Oliver Ortega was tasked with the 9th and walked the lead-off man Cade Marlowe. A bunt single and a hit-by-pitch later, the bases were loaded with 0 outs. Then Eugenio Suárez doubled down the 3rd base line, scoring 2 runs. Teoscar Hernández followed that with a sac fly RBI to make it a 9-6 game.
In the bottom of the 9th, Michael A. Taylor hit a solo shot, but it was too little too late as the next 3 batters got out, giving us a final score of 9-7.
This was a bad loss.
Studs:
Pablo López: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HR
Max Kepler: 2-4, 2 R, RBI
Willi Castro: 1-3, BB, 2 SB, 3B
Matt Wallner: 1-4, 2-run HR
Duds:
Jovani Moran: 0 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB
Oliver Ortega: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Alex Kirilloff: 0-5, 3 K
Trevor Larnach: 0-3, BB, 3 K