It appeared the Twins were on the verge of a blowout loss to the M’s Friday night after they served up four runs in the first frame.
But they chipped away at the lead to make it 4-3, fell behind again 6-3, and then pulled off a miracle, scoring three runs off one of the best closers in the game in the ninth inning, then poured it on with a six-run 10th to give the Twins a 12-6 win in Game 1 of their series versus the M’s.
Three players set the tone for the Twins: Oregon State man Trevor Larnach, Willi Castro and Carlos Correa.
Larnach led the way with four hits in six trips to the plate, including a home run and double. He also drove in four runs and scored a run. Although Castro didn’t drive in as many runs, he hit two home runs, including one off dangerous M’s closer Andres Munoz, scored three runs and walked twice. And Correa hit the first pitch of the 10th inning for a two-run shot.
Byron Buxton also rejoined the lineup on Friday and had a key hit in the ninth inning, stole second base and then Larnach brought him home with another hit to make it 6-6.
Bailey Ober gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
–Starting pitcher Zebby Matthews did OK. He served up four runs immediately on back-to-back jacks, but then settled down to pitch six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. His final line: four runs allowed on six hits with a walk and the aforementioned seven whiffs across seven innings. Not bad.
–Reliever Cole Sands had a rough eighth inning with two runs allowed on three hits with a throwing error, but fellow relievers Jhoan Duran and Brock Stewart quieted the M’s the rest of the way. Duran picked up the win to improve to 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA.
–Brooks Lee and Ty France also had four hits between them.
–Buxton has rejoined the team, so when does slugger Matt Wallner do the same? It has to be soon because he has been mashing the ball at Triple-A St. Paul. In six rehab games, Wallner has hit five home runs and driven in 13 for a slash line of .320/.370/.960, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Wallner has been working his way back from a hamstring injury.