Ervin Santana didn’t record an out until the Seattle’s batter, Nelson Cruz, struck out. By then Mitch Haniger had hit a two-run home run. Mike Zunino would knock another one out of the park, a three-run bomb, in the third inning and the Minnesota Twins could not overcome the deficit in the later innings, losing to the Mariners 6-4.
“Ervin will tell you that he had to battle tonight. He probably didn’t have as good a feel for his slider as he did his last game out. First one he threw was the one that get hit out over the fence, and then same thing with Zunino later on, when he gave up the three-run homer,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor.
“He hung in there for five. We pitched pretty well out of the pen. It took us a while to get on track offensively, but we made it interesting until the end — we just couldn’t get the last hit.”
Santana hit both Haniger and Zunino the inning after they homered, which he insisted was incidental. The main culprit of his struggles tonight was the loss of command of his slider. Molitor insisted that the beanings were circumstantial.
“Ervin had already misfired one up and in to another hitter, and we get a guy who hits a home run and comes up there with two outs and nobody on, and gets plunked on the first pitch,” said Molitor.
“It took discussion for them to get to that point of agreement. I don’t particularly agree, but I get that one of their main jobs is to try to protect the integrity and safety of the game.”
The Twins batters struggled with Seattle starter Sam Gaviglio until the fifth inning. Byron Buxton broke the seal with a double in the third inning, and Eduardo Escobar — who had five hits last night — kicked off the scoring with a homer in the fifth.
Buxton, who was 3-for-3 on the night, followed suit with a homer of his own later in the inning, and then Miguel Sano piled on with a two-run blast in the sixth that sent Gaviglio to the showers.
“He had a nice game,” Molitor said of Buxton. “He was able to put that ball in play the first at-bat and sneak it down the line, and then he got another off-speed pitch that he hit out. Took a walk. Put the ball in play in the ninth inning there and gave himself a chance.
“He’s working very diligently about trying to get his game on track offensively, and we’re seeing a little bit of signs from time to time.”
In the end, it was too little too late. The two homers in the fifth made it 5-2, but former Twin Danny Valencia added an insurance run in the sixth and Edwin Diaz’s 100-plus MPH heat shut down Minnesota for the save.
Jason Castro walked and Buxton had a single, but Brian Dozier’s hard-hit fly ball fell short of the center field fence, ending the game.
“He’s got the stuff to close,” said Molitor. “That’s evident.”
Minnesota has a chance to even the series 2-2 tomorrow afternoon. With the loss they are currently 13-20 at home, but at 33-29 overall, they remain in first place in the AL Central.
