The Twins’ losing streak has reached five.
It wasn’t the offense this time — the main culprit early on this season — though MInnesota did manage just five hits on Friday night.
Instead, it was a ninth-inning error that helped do them in in a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on a chilly night at Target Field.
After Caleb Thielbar quickly racked up the first two outs of the ninth, a Mark Canha single sparked a Tigers rally. Canha would advance into scoring position when Thielbar threw the ball away trying to pick him off. Canha came around to score on a Kerry Carpenter single, his fourth hit of the night.
The Twins had an opportunity in the bottom of the inning after Willi Castro walked with a pair of outs and advanced on a stolen base. But Christian Vázquez flew out to end the game.
The Twins had gotten themselves back even in the sixth inning, taking advantage of some shaky Detroit outfield defense. An error on right fielder Wenceel Pérez allowed Ryan Jeffers to reach base. Later in the inning, Carpenter misplayed a ball hit by Byron Buxton in left field.
Buxton appeared to believe the ball to be out, getting out of the box slowly, but it ended up hitting the wall, allowing a pair of runs to score to tie the game up and Buxton to reach second.
The Twins’ other two runs came in the first inning, giving them a lead when the recently-called up Trevor Larnach clobbered a Jack Flaherty pitch that landed in the second deck in right field.
Starter Joe Ryan, who dominated the Tigers a week ago, permitted four runs in his 5 1/3-inning outing.
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