Twins let another ninth-inning rally go to waste, lose to Mariners on walk-off single

SEATTLE – Three consecutive days, the Twins entered the ninth inning trailing the Mariners. Three consecutive days, the score is tied by the time they’re finished batting. Must be a blast managing such a clutch-in-crunch-time team, right?

Well, yes and no.

“I like the way we played, the entire series. I hope we keep playing that way,” manager Rocco Baldelli said of the thrilling series. But …

“We’re going to have to score a few more runs than we did the last game and a half,” he acknowledged.

Yep. The Twins scored only one run in the series finale at T-Mobile Park on Sunday, letting the Mariners walk away with their second consecutive walk-off victory, this time 2-1.

Julio Rodriguez led off the ninth with an infield hit, stole second and moved to third base when catcher Ryan Jeffers’ throw sailed into center field. When Randy Arozarena grounded a ball up the middle through a drawn-in infield, Rodriguez scored, handing the Twins their fifth consecutive loss in the final game of a series.

“It was a hard pitch to throw, and at the end of the day, I probably should’ve read the high leg kick from Griffin [Jax], him getting a good jump, and just ate it,” Jeffers said of his first error of the season. “It was a good throw, just a little high. I feel bad for [Jax].”

The odd series-finale losing streak has one easy-to-identify problem: the Twins have scored five total runs in those five losses.

Speaking of always the same, Cal Raleigh homered off Chris Paddack in the seventh inning to provide the game’s first run. Raleigh hit four home runs in the three weekend games, and he also passed the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani to become the major league home run leader with 23 on the year.

“It’s impressive. That guy beat us fair and square this series. [If] we get him out, this series probably looks different. So kudos to him,” Paddack said. “We made some really good pitches to him throughout the whole series, and he ambushed us.”

Besides that one bad pitch, a first-pitch curveball below the strike zone that turned into only the second home run off Paddack in 38 innings, the righthander was exceptional. He gave up only four hits and one walk while striking out 10. He threw 110 pitches over eight innings, tying the longest outing of his career.

Even more notable: His first 15 pitches were strikes.

“That was pretty cool, especially against a lineup like that, being able to get the first four or five hitters out without seeing a ball,” Paddack said. “That means my stuff’s on that day.”

But Paddack doesn’t get much help from his teammates lately. The loss was the Twins’ third in a row in games he’s started, though he has given up only five runs in those three games.

“It’s a long season. There are going to be games where the offense comes out and puts up crooked numbers, and there are going to be games 0-0 going out for the seventh. It’s the beauty of the game,” Paddack said. “Our guys faced a guy that’s an ace, and he threw the ball really well, too. It’s not that easy to get runs across against the arms in the game nowadays. But it’s going to flip.”

He’s right about Luis Castillo, who pitched six shutout innings. The Twins went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, stranding Trevor Larnach on third base in the third inning and Brooks Lee on second in the eighth, with Carlos Correa striking out on a foul tip after a spirited seven-pitch battle with reliever Matt Brash.

BOXSCORE: Seattle 2, Twins 1

MLB standings

They finally broke through in the ninth inning against Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz in the ninth, with Kody Clemens drawing a walk, going to second on Ty France’s single, advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly. But the Twins couldn’t add on, leaving them vulnerable to the heart of Seattle’s order in the bottom of the inning.

But the mood in the clubhouse was upbeat. Tough losses, but good games.

“Honestly, we didn’t come out on top, but this was probably one of the funnest series of my career so far,” Paddack said. “Just all-around really good baseball. Fun games to be a part of.”