That one will be tough for the Twins to swallow.
After rallying from their latest sizable early deficit, they had a chance to break out of their funk and perhaps spark a turnaround in their season with what would’ve been an impressive comeback win.
Instead, Jhoan Duran allowed a run in the ninth inning and the Twins lost a heartbreaker, 6-5, to the Mariners on Tuesday night at Target Field.
The loss is the fifth in a row and the 15th in the last 18 games for Minnesota, who has fallen to 37-42 on the year.
This wasn’t a blowout defeat like so many they’ve suffered this month, including three of the previous four games on this homestand.
Three innings in, it looked like that might be the case.
But the fact that the Twins rallied to tie the game, only to fall short, makes this one sting even worse.
When Chris Paddack surrendered five runs in the top of the third inning, it felt like the Twins were on their way to another lifeless loss.
One night earlier, Bailey Ober had given up six runs in the third inning as the Twins fell 11-2 to Seattle.
This time, the Twins had a quick response.
Kody Clemens got them on the board with a solo homer in the bottom half of the third. Then came the fourth inning, when the Twins tied the game with four runs on five hits and two walks against Mariners starter Luis Castillo.
That included a clutch two-out, two-run double from Ryan Jeffers to knot the score at 5 apiece.
But the Twins could’ve done even more in that fourth inning.
Ty France made it 5-3 when he grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs.
Then, after Jeffers’ double and a Harrison Bader infield single, Byron Buxton struck out with runners on the corners.
The Twins also stranded Matt Wallner after his leadoff double in the sixth inning.
Behind some strong bullpen work from both teams, the game remained tied 5-5 heading into the ninth.
That’s when the usually-dominant Duran ran into some trouble.
With one out, he hit former Twin Jorge Polanco with a pitch.
Cole Young then singled up the middle before Duran hit J.P. Crawford on the foot to load the bases, and Julio Rodriguez delivered a deep sacrifice fly to give Seattle the lead.
The Twins went down 1-2-3 against Matt Brash in the bottom half of the inning.
They’ve now lost nine consecutive one-run games over the last month…
According to the Twins’ TV broadcast, it’s the first time they’ve done that since 1973…
Joe Ryan, the Twins’ ace, will take the mound on Wednesday night in a game they’ll desperately want to win.
This has been a nightmarish month for Rocco Baldelli’s club, reminiscent of last year’s late-season collapse.
