The Minnesota Twins had a chance for a series sweep but Emilo Pagán served up a three-run homer to Cavan Biggio in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-6 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Twins were in good shape as they took a 6-4 lead heading into the eighth inning but Pagán allowed back-to-back singles by Santiago Espinal and Alejandro Kirk. With two men on and nobody out, Pagán fell behind 2-0 before Biggio crushed the game-winning homer to right field,
CLUTCH CAVAN! #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/ziODsB12KX
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 11, 2023
Pagán’s meltdown was the final turning point in an eventful game that saw the Twins score four runs in the top of the first inning. Alex Kirilloff led off the scoring with an RBI double before Trevor Larnach delivered a two-run single and Royce Lewis drove in Carlos Correa on an infield hit.
Although Matt Champman cut into the lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning, the Twins expanded their lead with two more runs in the top of the fifth with Donovan Solano’s first home run of the year and another RBI single from Lewis.
Toronto began its comeback in the bottom of the fifth as Biggio scored on a fielder’s choice and Chapman hit a two-run homer off Louie Varland to make it a 6-4 game.
The Twins had a chance to add to the lead with two runners on and two outs in the top of the sixth inning but Kirilloff was called for a pitch clock violation with two strikes to trigger an automatic strike and help the Blue Jays get out of the inning.
The missed opportunity loomed large as the Blue Jays were able to get to Pagán in the eighth and come away with the victory.
Lewis finished 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and Correa finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Edouard Julien went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored while Michael A. Taylor finished 1-for-4. The Twins struck out 11 times.
Varland started the game for the Twins, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Jovani Moran allowed two hits with a strikeout over 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and Griffin Jax allowed one hit and a strikeout over a scoreless seventh inning.
The Twins fell to 33-32 with the loss and will open a two-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers when Pablo Lòpez (3-3, 4.25 ERA) takes the mound against Corbin Burnes (5-4, 3.36 ERA).
