A pitcher’s duel at Target Field Sunday lasted into the 11th inning, but ended with the Twins on the losing side of a 4-1 score.
Starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey of the Twins and Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners kept their opponents scoreless through eight innings.
In the 9th, Nelson Cruz of the Mariners homered off of Twins reliever Glen Perkins to put Seattle in front. But Brian Dozier answered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run of his own to tie the game at one.
On to the 11th. Kevin Jepsen comes in for his debut with the #MNTwins.
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 2, 2015
Newly acquired reliever Kevin Jepsen made an inauspicious debut for the Twins in the 11th. Jepsen started the inning with a walk, a wild pitch, and another walk.
Jepsen recorded two outs, but also allowed a pair of hits as well as the walks and was the losing pitcher.
Video 2: Kevin Jepsen vows to "shake it off" after giving up 2 straight walks to start the 11th. #MNTwins http://t.co/BZlsEWK6VM
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) August 2, 2015
It was Logan Morrison’s double off of reliever Brian Duensing that drove in the winning run for Seattle.
As the box score shows, the Twins managed just four hits in the 11-inning game.
Twins hit .179 in four-game series vs. Seattle. Too bad they didn't get a chance to face Felix.
— Patrick Reusse (@Patrick_Reusse) August 2, 2015
Minnesota has lost 10 of its last 14 games, but is still holding onto the American League’s final playoff spot. The wild card standings show the Twins with a one-game lead over both the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays host the Twins in a four-game series that opens with a Monday afternoon matinee. Toronto’s new pitching ace David Price makes his Blue Jays debut, facing the Twins’ Ervin Santana.
Later in the series – on Wednesday – right-hander Tyler Duffey will make his first major league start. The Twins called up Duffey from triple-A Rochester when they announced Sunday that starter Tommy Milone is headed to the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain.
