The Twins and Mariners traded blows for eight innings on Tuesday, combining for 19 hits including a three-run homer by Ryan Jeffers and a grand slam from Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, to head to the ninth inning tied 6-6.

The Mariners, however, didn’t stop there.

In the ninth, Dylan Moore hit a leadoff triple off the wall in left field off Jorge Alcala, the first of four consecutive batters to reach base, as Seattle pulled away with four ninth-inning runs for a 10-6 victory over the Twins in front of 14,710 at Target Field.

Seattle evened the four-game series at a game apiece and pulled into a first-place tie with Texas in the American League West. The Twins lost for the second time in three games for the first time since April 19-21.

Margot, Kyle Farmer and Austin Martin each drove in a run, and starter Bailey Ober left after five innings with a 4-2 lead. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk and fanned seven.

Jorge Alcala, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning, faced eight batters in the ninth and was charged with four earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks.

Jeffers hit a towering, three-run home run as the Twins rallied from a two-run deficit to give the Twins a 4-2 lead in the third, but Raleigh did him one better, hitting a mammoth, pinch-hit grand slam off reliever Steven Okert in the seventh inning to put the Mariners up 6-4.

Mariners manager Scott Servais sent Raleigh to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Seby Zavala afterTwins manager Rocco Baldelli replaced right-hander Jay Jackson with lefty Okert.

Raleigh hammered a hanging curveball deep into the second deck, where all three of the night’s three home runs landed — although this one was the biggest, in length and importance.

The Twins got one back when Jose Miranda and Kyle Farmer started their half of the seventh with consecutive doubles, but Manny Margot couldn’t move him to third — he grounded out to third — and Farmer was caught trying to steal third as Jeffers struck out to end the inning.

After a strong first inning that included a 5-4-3 double play, Ober ran into issues in the second.

Leadoff hitter Mitch Haniger hit an 0-2 pitch into the second deck in left field, and after Ober retired Mitch Garver on a grounder and struck out Ty France, he hit Luis Urias in the shoulder. Dylan Moore, the No. 8 hitter, then hit a double into the left-center gap that scored Urias from first for a 2-0 lead.

The Twins went down in order in their half of the inning but their bats came alive for a four-run, two-out rally in the third off Seattle starter Emerson Hancock.

After Willi Castro and Carlos Santana each flied out to center, Jose Miranda reached on a single to right. Edouard Julien then walked, and Trevor Larnach brought Miranda home from second with a sharp single to right to cut the Mariners’ lead in half.

The next batter was Jeffers, and he hit the first pitch he saw from Hancock into the second deck in left — on a rope — to make it 4-2. The homer was Jeffers’ seventh, tying him with Julien for the team lead.

After Cole Sands pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, the Mariners made some hay against right-hander Jay Jackson.

Mitch Garver started the inning by beating out a slow grounder to short for a single, and after Jackson got Ty France looking, Moore hit a sharp single to left, and Garver went first to third.

That brought pitching coach Pete Maki to the mound, and Jackson got a high popup behind the plate from Moore. But Jeffers never got a good look at it, and it fell harmlessly in the warning track with Santana giving chase. That made the count full, but Moore took the next pitch for a ball to load the bases with one out.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli replaced Jackson with lefty Steven Okert, and Mariners manager countered with pinch-hitter Cal Raleigh, who cleared the bases with a no-doubter that traveled an estimated 445 feet before landing near the back of the second deck in left for a 6-4 lead.

Related Articles

Twins’ record-breaking 2019 unlikely to be matched again anytime soon

Twins bounce back with 3-1 victory over AL West-leading Seattle

Twins’ Trevor Larnach puts himself back into the picture

Festa, Saints can’t build on recent success; fall to Bats 7-6

Utilityman Willi Castro doing it all for Twins right now

The WNBA plans to commit $50 million over the next two years to provide full-time charter flight service for its teams during the season, the league’s commissioner announced Tuesday in a move that addresses years of player safety concerns.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a meeting with sports editors that the league will launch a charter program “as soon as we can get planes in places.” She said it’s projected to cost around $25 million per year for the next two seasons.

That means no more long security lines, bodyguards in public spaces, cramped legroom or layovers for the professional athletes who have been lobbying for better travel long before Caitlin Clark’s celebrity brought newfound interest to the league.

Most importantly, Lynx forward Napheesa Collier says, it means safety for the players.

“All these players and these faces are becoming so popular that it really is about that as much as it as about recovery,” Collier said, noting how last season Brittney Griner was harassed by what the WNBA called a “provocateur” while traveling commercial.

The WNBA already had announced plans to once again pay for charter flights for the entire playoffs as well as for back-to-back games during the upcoming season. The league introduced that program last year, spending about $4 million on charter flights. Engelbert said at the time the league needed to be in the right financial position to do full-time charter flights.

The WNBA has never been more popular thanks to rookies like Clark, who helped the NCAA reach its best viewership in history for women’s basketball, with nearly 19 million fans watching the title game, along with Angel Reese who went to the Met Gala on Monday night and Cameron Brink.

Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said it’s not business as usual anymore: It’s time for the league, franchises and women’s sports to be innovative.

“We’ve had moments in the league,” Reeve said, calling the current momentum a tsunami. “But this is clearly a movement. And if you think it’s not, you’re going to get left behind.”

Clark attracted attention walking through the airport with her new Indiana Fever teammates for a preseason game with the Dallas Wings last week. That exhibition sold out with fans lined up eager to get inside.

WNBA teams also have been moving games against Clark and Indiana to bigger arenas because of increased demand. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces became the first WNBA team to sell out allotted season tickets back in March after leading the league in attendance in 2023.

Flights have been an ongoing issue for the WNBA that only increased last year when the league began working with the Phoenix Mercury and Griner after the All-Star center’s 10-month detainment in Russia.

The league hadn’t allowed teams to use charter flights except for when they had back-to-back games.

That forced players like Breanna Stewart, the 6-foot-4 forward for the New York Liberty, to squeeze past fellow travelers on commercial flights to fit into her assigned window seat. WNBA players also had to not only retrieve their own luggage but endure travel days that could stretch 13 hours with delays.

Charter flights will allow WNBA players to go through private air terminals straight to buses or their own cars when returning home. Avoiding layovers also will help with recovery between games, which is even more crucial with this season’s schedule around the Olympics.

WNBA coaches and players were waiting Tuesday for details about the charter flights.

Stewart spoke to reporters via Zoom just before the commissioner spoke in New York. Stewart shared on social media an airplane emoji with a question mark to the attention of the WNBA’s account.

Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, whose Aces already had security in place to protect players, knows what will make everyone ecstatic.

“Everybody’s very happy they’re not going to have to stand in security lines as much, or as long,” Hammon said.

Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who now has an endorsement deal with Gatorade, said the growth of the women’s game has been a “whirlwind” that was just a matter of time. Wilson said it’s up to the players and teams to put the best product on the court with so many people watching now.

“That’s what continues to bring more eyes and more people and more investors, and then we end up with charter flights, and then things are going off and people are spinning off, and now we’re having a great time,” Wilson said.

Related Articles

Lynx outscore Chicago in WNBA preseason opener

Reeve ready to see new-look Lynx in preseason opener

Post surgery, Miller ready to go full speed for Lynx

Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus headline Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Lynx take Utah forward Alissa Pili with No. 8 pick in Monday’s WNBA draft

Toledo’s Triple-A team started strong with four runs in the first inning Tuesday in Ohio, and the Saints couldn’t recover, losing 7-5.

The Saints got on the board in the second with a solo homer from Yunior Severino, his fourth of the season. The Mud Hens added their own run.

A home run from DaShawn Keirsey Jr., an RBI double from Patrick Winkel, and a two-run homer from Kiersey Jr. boosted the Saints but not quite high enough.

The second game of the series is 10:05 a.m. on Wednesday.

Related Articles

Festa, Saints can’t build on recent success; fall to Bats 7-6

St. Paul Saints charge back from 5-0 deficit for 8-5 win over Louisville Bats

David Festa fans 10 but Saints blow five-run lead in 7-5 setback to Bats

Saints lose pair of 1-run games in doubleheader

Red Wings’ Rico Garcia ends Saints’ comeback bid with 3 strikeouts

People buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protection under a so-called Taylor Swift bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Tim Walz.

The law, prompted by the frustration a legislator felt at not being able to buy tickets to Swift’s 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will require ticket sellers to disclose all fees up front and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures. The law will apply to tickets purchased in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other live events held in Minnesota.

Walz signed House File 1989 — a reference to Swift’s birth year and an album with that title — at First Avenue, a landmark nightclub and concert venue in downtown Minneapolis.

Kelly Moller (Courtesy photo)

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would be at a bill signing for House File 1989 at First Avenue,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller of Shoreview, chief author of the bill.

Moller was among thousands of people who became stuck in ticket sales company Ticketmaster’s system after it crashed in 2022 amid the huge demand for Swift concert tickets and attacks from bots, which tried to buy tickets for resale at inflated prices. The situation led to congressional hearings but no federal legislation.

Supporters of Minnesota’s new law say the state joins Maryland as among the few states to pass protections for ticket buyers into law.

Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new Minnesota law. Taylor Swift’s media team also did not respond.

Taylor Swift performs during her ‘Eras Tour’ concert at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Friday, June 23, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Jessica Roey, a spokesperson for reseller StubHub, said in an email, “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket buying process. We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control, and more choice for ticket buyers.”

Earlier: After Taylor Swift came to town, Ross Raihala said there’s no one else like her. Here’s why.

Walz, a Democrat, said the new law is “protection so you don’t get a bad ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and resellers can’t snatch them all up before you get an opportunity.”

Mike Dean and his daughters at First Avenue on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, after Gov. Tim Walz signed a so-called Taylor Swift bill. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed)

Two young girls — one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on at the moment” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark — attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in support of the bill this year.

Dean said his daughter “came to me in December and said, ‘Dad, I want to go to see Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I just couldn’t resist. And so I went online to go buy tickets.”

The tickets were supposed to cost $300 total, Dean said, but they ended up costing over $500 because of hidden fees. The timer had begun in the online checkout process, so he had just minutes to decide whether to buy the tickets or lose them.

He ultimately bought the tickets. But Dean said these practices mean customers can’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.

The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025, and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.

Adrianna Korich, director of ticketing at First Avenue, said she supports the new rules, saying fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to 10 times a ticket’s face value because of deceptive websites and resellers who list tickets without actually possessing them. The new law bans both, she said.

“We have all heard the horror stories from the Taylor Swift Eras tour and have seen the astronomical prices that are being charged at checkout,” Korich said.

Related Articles

Latin pop star Becky G will open the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand season

Live Nation’s Concert Week offers $25 tickets to everyone from Janet Jackson to the Dandy Warhols

Concert review: Jimmy Buffett loomed large over Kenny Chesney’s U.S. Bank Stadium show

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Kyu-Young Kim to step down as artistic director as musicians criticize ‘non-collaborative’ management

Free concert at Como Park will celebrate both World Accordion Day and Star Wars Day