The Twins lost in walk-off fashion for the seventh time this season after Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino hit his eighth home run in the bottom of the 12th to beat the Twins, 4-3. Other than the home run, Zunino struck out three times and is hitting .198.
The Twins also fell to 3-10 in one-run games this season.
The pitching in this series has been pretty good for the Twins. Fernando Romero pitched well Friday and Jake Odorizzi gave the Twins five-plus innings before the bullpen took over and pitched well until the 12th inning. But this team is struggling to find hits. The Twins scored three runs on eight hits, but Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario had four of those eight hits and the only extra-base hits of the night. The rest of the lineup, particularly the bottom half of the order, has been punchless. And after Byron Buxton crashed hard into the outfield wall in an attempt to rob a home run from the Mariners, it appears he might be headed back to the disabled list. When is this team going to put it all together?
Jose Berrios gets the ball Sunday. We need you to win, Jose.
Extra innings…
-Allow me to be the fist person to say it: I bet manager Paul Molitor’s seat is getting warm. And by that I mean his job is suddenly in jeopardy. Yes, the Twins have been hurt by injuries, but there’s also too much talent on this team for them not to be playing better than they are. And whose job is it to get the most out of your team? The manager’s job. If the Twins continue to underachieve and play lackluster baseball, Molitor might be on his way out the door.