Nick Gordon hit a three-run homer and scored on a 10th-inning grounder as the Minnesota Twins won in Tyler Mahle’s debut, scoring a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
The big story coming into the evening was the debut of Mahle, who was acquired for three minor league prospects at Tuesday’s trade deadline. The right-hander was sharp early, recording 14 outs in his first 14 plate appearances to help Minnesota get off to a fast start.
The Twins took advantage in the third inning when Mark Contreras hit his second home run of the season. Minnesota added to its lead in the fourth when Jose Miranda delivered an RBI single and Gordon smashed his fifth home run of the year to right field to make it a 5-0 game.
That ball got out of here in a 𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙃! ⚡@FlashGThe3rd | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/cqBwQkC0Ce
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) August 6, 2022
Mahle started to fade in the fifth inning when Matt Chapman’s solo home run put Toronto on the board. The Blue Jays piled on in the sixth with a solo homer from Santiago Espinal and a two-run bomb from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to make it a 5-4 game.
Despite the homers, Mahle’s debut (6 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K) was good enough to hand the lead to the Twins bullpen. Griffin Jax struck out the side in the seventh, Jhoan Duran got out of a jam in the eighth but Jorge López gave up a two-out single to Raimel Tapia to send the game to extra innings.
After Michael Fulmer got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 10th, Gordon started the bottom half on second base and advanced after Jake Cave reached first base after a strikeout.
With runners on first and third, Tim Beckham grounded to Matt Chapman, but Gordon beat the throw home to give the Twins the victory.
⚡ FLASHING HOME FOR THE WIN ⚡@FlashGThe3rd | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/5zEgmVIxcA
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) August 6, 2022
After evening the series with Toronto and extending their lead in the American League Central to two games, the Twins will send Dylan Bundy to the mound on Saturday night against Mitch White.
