SEATTLE — The Twins have found themselves on the tightrope repeatedly during the month of June. On Friday night at T-Mobile Park, they were on the hook again and couldn’t make it to the other side, losing 3-2 to the Mariners in 10 innings.
It’s Minnesota’s fifth straight road series-opening loss, and its sixth straight loss by one run, a streak that dates back to June 11 against the Rockies. The Twins are 14-10 in one-run games this year, but just 3-6 in such contests in June.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the first time a team has had six consecutive one-run losses since it happened to the Marlins from May 2-9, 2022, and the first time it has happened to the Twins since Sept. 24-30, 1972.
“A lot of things happen in this game,” coach Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s what makes the game fun for everyone and unpredictable and all that. We have to find ways to get some of the tight ones out. We’ve been winning some games by some margins, but we have to do a little better job of making all the plays when it matters in close games.
“Overall, I don’t think we played a bad game. We had some good at-bats. I thought we pitched well. I think there were some unique plays we had to deal with today.”
Those original plays led directly to all of Seattle’s runs, capped by a squibber off Cal Raleigh’s bat in the bottom of the tenth, with an exit velocity of 61.9 mph and a launch angle of -55, that dribbled its way . in no man’s land to score JP Crawford and give the Mariners the victory.
Again, that was probably the easiest mistake to swallow of the three that produced runs.
Seattle’s only mark on Twins starter Bailey Ober over the course of six innings came in the bottom of the fifth, when Mitch Haniger walked with two outs and scored on Josh Rojas’ double, thanks to an extra aggressive throw to third base and Christian Vázquez failed to make a throw that beat Haniger by three steps.
“It’s a play we’re going to make, I wouldn’t say 99 out of 100 times,” Baldelli said. “But at least eight, probably nine out of 10 times, we’re just going to make that play and catch the ball, and he’s going to be out by 10 to 15 feet.”
In the eighth inning, with the Twins clinging to a one-run lead, the slump returned. With two on and one out, Julio Rodriguez grounded out to Jose Miranda at third. Miranda went to tag Luke Raley when he crossed his path, but the Mariners outfielder ran to the infield grass and around him. Miranda’s off-balance throw to first got a little bounce off Carlos Santana and bounced, allowing Raley to score. After a quick discussion, the umpires confirmed that he had not left the base.
“It was a strange play,” Miranda said. “I really thought he was going to get criticized.”
The final result put a damper on another dominant performance by Ober. Six days after the most efficient outing by a Twins starter in nearly 20 years in Oakland, the right-hander took his show north, striking out nine and allowing just one run on two hits and three walks.
Over the course of two starts, Ober has allowed one run in 15 innings, lowering his ERA from 4.81 to 4.30.
Add in his last home start, June 16 against the A’s, and he has put together three straight quality starts for the second time this year, a span that has lowered his ERA by 0.83 and his WHIP by 0.10.
“I feel like I’ve been able to locate better when I get to two strikes,” Ober said. “Mainly just getting guys away early and then if they get late, maybe surprise them with a pitch they’re not really thinking about. I think our sequencing has been really good the last three weeks.”
But this time the quality start did not hold, and in another close game, a couple of unusual plays were enough to get the Twins off the tight rope.
“It’s kind of frustrating for everyone involved when you miss out on weird, unusual plays, soft hits on balls and things like that,” Baldelli said. “It doesn’t change the result. We have to find ways to execute those plays and finish them.”
