RECAP: #MNTwins drop Interleague matchup with the D-backs. http://t.co/tuuBXxxvd0 pic.twitter.com/WDlG7KzXLI
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 23, 2014
Starter Ricky Nolasco struggled as the Twins lost their 90th game of the season, 6-2, to the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night at Target Field.
This is the fourth season in a row that Minnesota has reached the 90-loss mark, and they were defeated by a team with an even worse record – Arizona has 94 losses so far this season and has the worst record in baseball, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Nolasco had been pitching better lately, and started off with four scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks.
But he fell apart in the fifth, giving up three straight hits, including an RBI double to Didi Gregorius, who scored later on a wild pitch. Mark Trumbo hit a two-run homer to give Arizona a 5-1 lead, according to MLB.com, and Nolasco was pulled in favor of A.J. Achter.
“It’s been a terrible year,” Nolasco said after the game, according to MLB.com. “I’m just trying to finish the year healthy. But there’s nothing I can do to fix it from here on out.”
Nolasco, who is finishing the first year of a four-year, $49 million contract, is now 5-12 with a 5.47 ERA, notes MLB.com.
The Twins opened the scoring with a run in the third on a two-out RBI single from Chris Herrmann. But they didn’t score again until the seventh inning. Kurt Suzuki led off the inning with a double, and Josmil Pinto brought him home on an RBI single. But that was all they could muster en route to their third straight loss.
The Twins have two more games against Arizona at Target Field. They’ve seen their average home attendance drop to 27,750, according to the Pioneer Press, which would be their lowest season-ending figure since 2005, when they were still playing in the Metrodome. They close out the season in Detroit with a four-game series beginning Thursday.
