The Minnesota Twins twice had Sunday’s ballgame locked up, and twice they gave up the lead to the Washington Nationals, who pulled off a 6-5 win in 16 innings.
Brian Dozier homered in the eighth inning to put Minnesota up 4-1. But Trevor May relinquished two runs in the bottom frame to make it 4-3, and Bryce Harper — who was supposed to get the day off — hit a pinch-hit home run off of Kevin Jepsen in the 9th to tie it up.
Minnesota again took the lead in the 15th inning on a Miguel Sano single. But Danny Espinosa stole on Michael Tonkin, who came in to relieve Ryan O’Rourke after 3.2 innings, and Oliver Perez advanced to first on John Ryan Murphy’s throwing error, which scored Espinosa.
Chris Heisey’s walk off homer in the 16th sealed it for Washington.
“Obviously it is tough,” Tonkin told the Star Tribune. “It’s frustrating. A lot of guys are out there grinding away, busting their tail. To not be able to finish it off is frustrating.”
At 5-14, the Twins now have the worst record in the American League. They come home after finishing the road trip 1-4, and their current road record stands at 1-10.
“We talk about adversity all the time,” Molitor told the Star Tribune, “and that’s where you get tested the most, and we’re being challenged here early on as to what kind of resiliency we are going to show.”
[Star Tribune, Associated Press]
