After Kyle Gibson put on a pitching clinic in the first game of a split-doubleheader at Target Field on Thursday, Toronto relievers did their best to erase that from anyone’s mind in the second game.
The Blue Jays walked eight Twins hitters in the eighth inning, allowing Minnesota to score six runs and rally to beat the Blue Jays 9-5.
In doing so, the Twins swept the Thursday doubleheader.
Steve Delaber walked two, Sergio Santos put three aboard and mixed in three wild pitches and Happ walked three more.
Believe it or not, it has happened in Major League Baseball before.
The last time a team drew eight walks in an inning was April 19, 1996, when the Rangers did it vs the Orioles. #MNTwins
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 18, 2014
MLB announced tonight it will shut down indefinitely for reconstruction after bottom of 8th inning took place at Target Field.
— Dan Barreiro (@DanBarreiroKFAN) April 18, 2014
In all the Blue Jays put 12 Twins runners on base.
Control problems weren’t only limited to the Blue Jays relievers though. Twins starter Mike Pelfrey struggled to find the zone as well. He walked five in 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. Pelfrey was tagged for five runs (four earned) in another disappointing start.
Pelfrey is done after just 4 1/3 innings for his shortest outing of the young season. Another rough start for him. #MNTwins down 3-1.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 18, 2014
Twins relievers rose to the occasion though. Samuel Deduno, Casey Fien and Glenn Perkins combined to shut the Blue Jays down and give the Twins 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Fien picked up the win.
For the Twins, Brian Dozier homered to lead off the bottom of the first inning to cut into an early Blue Jays’ lead. He finished 2-4 and scored three runs on the night.
Chris Colabello continued swinging a hot bat, he was 3-4 with three more RBI.
The Twins open a weekend series in Kansas City starting Friday night.
