Twins lose 5-4 to Tigers as struggles mount late
With the score tied in the ninth inning Friday, Twins lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar had two outs, nobody on base and the Detroit Tigers' No. 9 hitter in the batter's box.
With the way the Twins have started the season, every situation presents trouble.
Thielbar surrendered a two-out single to Parker Meadows, committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and gave up a go-ahead RBI single to Wenceel Pérez in a 5-4 loss to the Tigers at Target Field. The Twins have dropped five consecutive games.
It was just the third time this season the Twins have lost when they scored at least four runs, but there isn't much margin for error with the way they are hitting.
Even when they make the right plays and right pitches, it hasn't been enough.
Before Detroit scored two runs in the third inning, wrestling a lead away from the Twins, Twins starter Joe Ryan was locked in a seven-pitch at-bat with Meadows. Ryan's last pitch, a 94-mph fastball, was as close to the middle of the plate as the outside corner, but it was called ball four.
Ryan rubbed the back of his head as he paced around the mound, patting the rosin bag on his hand before asking for the ball again. Meadows stole second base as Ryan struck out the next batter, then scored when Pérez blooped an RBI single to left field.
If that wasn't enough frustration for Ryan, Pérez stole second base and scored the go-ahead run on Kerry Carpenter's check swing that dribbled through the left side of the infield. Twelve pitches after Ryan should've struck out Meadows to keep the bases empty, the Twins trailed by a run.
It's been that type of start to the season for the Twins.
After Carpenter hit a two-out double in the first inning, Spencer Torkelson hit a ground ball to Edouard Julien's left that forced the second baseman to slide in the outfield grass to prevent the ball from rolling into the outfield. Carpenter, perhaps thinking the ball squirted past Julien, attempted to score from second base on an infield single.
Julien saw Carpenter running when he stood up and fired at throw to the plate. Julien's throw bounced about 10 feet in front of catcher Christian Vázquez, on the lip of the grass in front of home plate, and the ball skipped past Vázquez to the backstop. Torkelson attempted to advance on Julien's wild throw, but he was easily thrown out at second base.
A good stop by Julien, bad baserunning by Carpenter and it still counted as a 1-0 lead for the Tigers. Opposing teams have scored first in 14 of the Twins' 18 games this season.
The Twins, who produced only three baserunners in their first five innings against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, received some help from Detroit's defense in the sixth inning. After Edouard Julien drew a leadoff walk, Ryan Jeffers hit a fly ball to right-center field. Jeffers slammed his bat in frustration, but Tigers right fielder Wenceel Pérez whiffed on the ball.
Gifted two runners in scoring position with none out, the next two batters struck out. Byron Buxton, hitless in his last 32 at-bats against Tigers pitching, lined a slider to left field. Buxton thought it would be a go-ahead homer, flipping his bat as he moved out of the batter's box, but he had to settle for a game-tying, two-run double when the ball hit the top of the left field wall.
The Twins produced only one baserunner after Buxton's double.
They scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning — Alex Kirilloff lined a two-out double to center field and Trevor Larnach crushed a fastball in a 0-2 count for a two-run homer — before Flaherty shut down their lineup.
Following Larnach's first homer of the season, Flaherty struck out eight of his next 10 batters, including three on called third strikes. Flaherty finished with 10 strikeouts in six innings, matching his highest total in a start since Sept. 20, 2020.
