Twins' bullpen implodes again, Blue Jays dominate series opener
The Minnesota Twins bullpen had another rough night, allowing the Toronto Blue Jays to erupt for nine runs in the final four innings during a 9-3 loss on Thursday night.
The Twins were in good shape through the first five innings thanks to the pitching of Sonny Gray. The veteran held Toronto hitless through the first four frames before running into trouble in the bottom of the fifth.
After striking out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the bases loaded to get out of the inning, Gray was pulled in favor of Emilio Pagan, who inherited a 1-0 lead.
That advantage evaporated when Teoscar Hernandez crushed a solo home run to left field to tie the game. The homer opened the flood gates as the Blue Jays scored three runs in the sixth and six runs in the eighth including Guerrero's three-run homer off Tyler Duffey.
The Twins' leaky effort from the bullpen was accentuated by a quiet night at the plate. Alek Manoah allowed two runs over six innings and the Blue Jays relievers were almost flawless outside of a ninth-inning home run by Jake Cave.
The Twins will look to even the series on Friday night when Tyler Mahle makes his Minnesota debut against José Berríos.
