The Twins’ series winning streak ended at six on Sunday after the team lost in Little League, walk-off fashion 3-2 to the San Francisco Giants.
It’s amazing the game ended as it did because for six innings it appeared that Giants pitcher and Northwest native Blake Snell was on the verge of throwing a perfect game. Snell was perfect through six innings and then the Twins’ Manny Margot singled in the top of the seventh to break up the perfect game bid.
Despite the stellar pitching, the Giants only had a 2-0 lead over the Twins. Minnesota finally went to work in the ninth to tie the game and then they literally threw the game away in the home half of the inning.
The Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski hit what appeared to be a double, but it quickly became a triple after Margot failed to retrieve the ball on a diving catch. Rookie Brooks Lee handled the relay from the outfield, then he turned and threw wildly, airmailing the ball well beyond the reach of the third baseman. So, to recap: Yastrzemski’s apparent double became a triple then became a home run to edge the Twins.
Closer Jhoan Duran got stuck with the tough-luck loss, falling to 5-4 after he allowed a hit and unearned run.
The Twins don’t play again until Saturday, July 20, against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Extra innings…
-The series winning streak began June 21 with two of three wins against the Oakland A’s, then continued against the D-Backs, Mariners, Tigers, Astros and Chicago White Sox.
-That’s a wrap on the first half of play for 2024, and it was a good first half for the Twins who are 12 games over .500, 4.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians and 2.5 games up on the Kansas City Royals. The Twins are in a good position to catch the Guards by the end of the season.
-Some first half highlights/lowlights: A 12-game winning streak; a seven-game losing streak; 466 runs scored, which is third in the American League behind the Orioles and Yankees; 419 runs allowed, which is ninth in the AL; a team ERA of 4.11, which ranks 10th in the AL; and they committed only 45 errors, which is fourth best in the AL. They need to keep that number under 100.
-It’s a good thing the All-Star break is here because the Twins are starting to get a little banged up. Carlos Correa is day to day with plantar fasciitis, Jose Miranda, who recently tied a major league record with 12 straight hits, is on the 10-day injured list with back pain and don’t forget Royce Lewis.
-A little history: On July 15, 1964, Twins pitcher Mudcat Grant scattered 13 hits (!) and still tossed a complete game shutout to beat the Washington Senators, 6-0.
How did he do it? All of those hits were singles. The Twins, on the other hand, banged out 11 hits, including four extra-base hits, three of which were home runs. Grant’s line: Nine innings pitched, 13 hits, no runs, no earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts.