Make it four consecutive losses for the Minnesota Twins after they were pounded by the Phillies 13-2 Friday in Philadelphia.
The Phillies rocked Minnesota left-hander Dallas Keuchel for six runs in the second inning and never looked back. Keuchel pitched a 1-2-3 first inning in his second start with the Twins only to get smacked in the second inning. He faced nine batters in the second inning and it went like this: double, double, single, walk, hit by pitch, run-scoring fielder’s choice, single, sac-fly, single, single.
The Phillies scored three more times in the fourth, twice in the sixth and two more in the eighth. Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back homers in the sixth and Johan Rojas hit a two-run shot for Philly in the eighth.
The Twins scored their two runs on back-to-back solo homers by Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler in the second inning, but they managed just four more hits the rest of the night.
The four straight losses has dropped Minnesota’s record to 60-58. Fortunately for the Twins, the Guardians lost so the Twins’ lead in the AL Central remains 3.5 games entering play Saturday.
Up next: Twins at Phillies, Saturday at 5:05 p.m. CT.
