The Twins will have their backs against the wall for the remainder of the season as they fell to the Kansas City Royals 3-1 at Target Field.
Minnesota came up on the short end of a genuine pitchers duel on Friday night. A double from Ben Zobrist and a single from Mike Moustakas highlighted a two-run eighth inning that helped lead the Royals to the victory.
Wade Davis then came on to close it out in the ninth for his 16th save.
Things couldn't have gone worse for the Twins tonight. Angels won, Astros on their way to winning, and Twins lose to the Royals. Ouch.
— Derek Wetmore (@DerekWetmore) October 3, 2015
It wasn’t the end result the Twins or their fans were hoping for on Zubazpalooza night.
Twins' Zubazpalooza draws line, attracts lots of fan photos http://t.co/wgZPSY59Dk #mntwins #zubaz #zubazpalooza pic.twitter.com/8OZEGhUrmY
— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) October 3, 2015
The Twins took the early lead in the bottom of the second, when Aaron Hicks singled in Eddie Rosario to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.
But that didn’t last for long. In the top of the third, with the speedy Jarrod Dyson on third, Eric Hosmer grounded to Twins first baseman Joe Mauer allowing Dyson to score to even it up.
Twins starter Ervin Santana (7-5) was the tough luck loser Friday, he allowed two runs, on four hits, while striking out and walking three. Santana and the Twins got in trouble when the righty came back out for the eighth inning.
After giving up a hit, he came out and reliever Glen Perkins wasn’t able to get him out of trouble. Perkins also gave up a run and two hits in just 1/3 of an inning.
Chris Young held the Twins to one run on four hits, but he didn’t factor in the victory. Louis Coleman (1-0) picked up the victory for Kansas City out of the bullpen.
Dyson led the way for the Royals, he was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Zobrist added a timely RBI double in the eighth.
Mauer led the Twins he finished 2-for-4, but the middle of the Minnesota lineup struggled. The 3 through 6 hitters for the Twins combined to go 1-for-16 with four strikeouts.
The series continues on Saturday afternoon as Tommy Milone (9-5) heads to the mound against Yordano Ventura (12-8).
