The Minnesota Twins pitching woes continued on Wednesday as Alex Colomé blew a pair of late leads in a 13-12 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Wednesday’s game was a wild one for the Twins, who got on the board in the first inning with Josh Donaldson’s first home run of the season. While the Twins had the early lead, Kenta Maeda had a rough outing allowing three runs in the bottom of the second to put Oakland ahead 3-1.
The Athletics’ lead didn’t last long as the Twins scored three runs in the third inning highlighted by Nelson Cruz’s sixth home run of the season.
aaaaaand … 💥 𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙈 💥#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/4a1JouHv65
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) April 21, 2021
While the Twins offense rebounded after being shut out in a doubleheader on Tuesday, the pitching struggles continued. Maeda allowed a pair of two-run homers to Matt Olson and Seth Brown to get chased from the game and give the Athletics a 7-4 lead after three.
But the Twins fought back and tied the game in the top of the fifth. Cruz hit his second home run of the game before Buxton scored on a wild pitch and Jorge Polanco tied the game on an error.
The Twins took the lead in the top of the sixth with three more runs but the bullpen struggled to preserve the 10-7 lead. After Oakland plated two runs on a Jed Lowrie double, Buxton made a ridiculous diving grab off the bat of Olson to save the game.
BYRON BUXTON.
BEST GLOVE IN THE GAME. pic.twitter.com/kAvLkRzdH1
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) April 21, 2021
The Twins took that 10-9 lead into the ninth inning, but Alex Colomé had another rough outing which led to a sacrifice fly to Matt Chapman that tied the game.
In the top of the 10th, Buxton had enough of the pitching woes, launching a two-run bomb that put the Twins ahead.
GIVE BYRON BUXTON THE MVP TROPHY RIGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/o8esOzqxqx
— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) April 21, 2021
But the Twins still had to close it out in the bottom of the 10th and Colomé remained in the game.
Colomé picked up the first pair of outs before loading the bases for Mark Canha. Canha grounded to Travis Blankenhorn, who pinch-ran for Donaldson in the top of the 10th, and the ensuing error allowed the A’s to make it a 12-11 game.
Ramon Laureano grounded to Luis Arraez in the next at-bat but Arraez chucked the ball up the right-field line to allow the game-winning runs to score.
The Twins are now 6-11 on the season and will return home to host Pittsburgh on Friday.
Twins bettors look away 🤮
A's (-115 ML) win their 11th in a row on a walk-off error…
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/ycE7gc6G7P
— br_betting (@br_betting) April 22, 2021
