The Minnesota Twins made history on Tuesday afternoon and it was not the kind they were hoping to make this postseason. With a 4-1 loss to the Houston Astros, the Twins lost their 17th straight playoff game, the longest streak in the history of North American sports.
Minnesota squandered multiple good chances to put runs on the board. They left the bases loaded in the first inning and later failed to score after Marwin Gonzalez and Luis Arraez drew back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the fifth.
Despite failing to take advantage of those situations, the Twins drew first blood in the bottom of the third. Nelson Cruz smacked an RBI double to right field and Max Kepler slid into home to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.
Safe! #OurSZN pic.twitter.com/oSeX1UDeGH
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 29, 2020
Kenta Maeda and Trevor May took the lead into the seventh inning, but with Tyler Duffey on the mound, George Springer tied the game on an RBI single and gave momentum back to the Astros.
With the Twins’ bats silenced by Framber Valdez, the Astros mounted a bases-loaded rally in the top of the ninth. Sergio Romo appeared to get out of the jam with a ground ball to Jorge Polanco, but the throw pulled Arraez off second base and gave the Astros an extra out.
Houston took advantage as Jose Altuve drew a bases-loaded walk to take the lead. The Astros piled on with a Michael Brantley single that plated two more runs and the Twins saw their postseason losing streak reach another historic level.
The Twins will try to break the streak and keep their season alive on Wednesday afternoon when Jose Berrios takes the mound in Game 2.
