Pitching woes plagued the Twins for a second straight night but the end of Tuesday night’s game against the Blue Jays came down to a bang-bang play at home plate.
Trailing 6-5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and C.J. Cron on first base, Byron Buxton ripped a double down the left-field line. Cron, not exactly speedy, motored around second base and then third but a perfect relay from the Blue Jays beat him to the plate.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli challenged the play with hopes that Jays catcher Dan Jansen was blocking Cron’s path to the plate, but umpires confirmed the call on the field to send the Twins to a second straight home loss.
Offensively, the Twins mustered just six hits, three of them homers by Jorge Polanco (solo shot), Eddie Rosario (3-run homer) and Marwin Gonzalez (solo shot in the ninth inning).
The Twins were leading 1-0 in the sixth inning when Toronto got to starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, who after cruising through five innings gave up a single, double, walk and a two-run single before Baldelli had seen enough and yanked him from the game.
Ryne Harper replaced Gibson and got the second out of the inning before surrendering back-to-back RBI singles, putting the Jays up 4-1.
Rosario’s three-run blast – his fourth homer of the year – tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. But Trevor May loaded the the bases in the seventh inning and Trevor Hildenberger gave up a two-run single to Teoscar Hernandez, which proved to be the decisive hit.
Game three of the four-game series is Wednesday at 6:40 p.m.
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