Twins Snap Blue Jays’ Longest Win Streak Since 2015

With five homers, the Minnesota Twins snapped the Toronto Blue Jays' eight-game win streak.

Three weeks ago, Kyle Garlick’s first-inning homer would’ve been back-breaking.

The two-run Twins shot would’ve put the game out of reach before Blue Jays’ scuffling offense even took the field. But with the way things have been going for Toronto of late, a comeback seemed inevitable.

The Jays tied the game within minutes of falling behind in the first, and then flashed life again when Minnesota took another early lead. Ultimately, though, Toronto ran out of comebacks, and five Twins homers sunk the Blue Jays, ending the team’s longest win streak since 2015.

"We gave up the long ball," manager Charlie Montoyo said.

The Twins took charge for good on Yusei Kikuchi's first pitch of the second inning, a hung breaking ball that Minnesota's Jose Miranda turned into the outfield seats. Just missing spots with his slider, Kikuchi allowed four runs and three homers during his 4.2 innings of work. He managed to strike out six and walk none, surviving into the fifth frame, but Kikuchi credited Minnesota's gameplan for the hard hits.

"A lot of good things and bad things today," Kikuchi said through an interpreter.

Even with the loss, the Jays still looked unlike the team that scored the third-fewest runs in the first three weeks of May. Toronto chased Chi Chi Gonzalez after three frames, the top four batters all slapped hits, and Vlad Guerrero Jr. flashed his MVP-calibre swagger. Despite being held hitless after the third inning, there was a constant atmosphere of optimism.

"It felt like we had a chance," Montoyo said.

In the third inning, Guerrero took a moment to himself. After crushing a liner heading for the seats he stepped out of the box, slammed his bat to the ground in triumph, and began his march around the bases.

The homer was a classic Guerrero mash, a frozen rope lined into the outfield bleachers at 114 miles per hour. Much like the rest of Toronto’s offense, Guerrero snapped his skid in a big way, rocking two homers in his last three games and posting an OPS over .900 during the win streak.

But, like the rest of Toronto's offense, stagnation occurred for Guerrero after that third frame—a rare offensive absence these days. He fanned over a well-placed diving changeup with the tying run at third a few innings after his homer, but the sense of offensive hopelessness that dragged Toronto close to .500 a few weeks ago was nowhere to be found. Over the now deceased eight-game win streak, the Jays scored the fifth-most runs in baseball (59), walked more than any other franchise, and posted the highest team OPS in baseball.

When a loss follows eight consecutive wins, it's hardly crushing. With the way Toronto is playing right now, it’s simply an opportunity to start a new streak.

"We can definitely come back tomorrow, regroup, and bounce back," Kikuchi said. "It's a new day tomorrow."