Bullpen struggles, Twins fall 10-6 to Mariners

The Twins bullpen gave up eight combined runs Tuesday.

Apr 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler (26) runs to first base / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins' bullpen struggled Tuesday, allowing eight combined runs in relief of Bailey Ober, ultimately resulting in a 10-6 defeat.

RHP Bailey Ober made his seventh start of the season vs. the Mariners. He has struggled to find his grove with a 4.55 ERA over 31.2 IP this season. It started slow Tuesday, but he settled into an impressive outing.

It took only three Seattle batters for the Twins to get through the first inning, but a Mitch Haniger home run and RBI double from Dylan Moore give the Mariners a 2-0 lead and Ober needed 24 pitches to get through the inning.

The Twins' bats began to heat up in the fourth inning. Trevor Larnach got the party started with an RBI single, then Ryan Jeffers added a three-run home run and Minnesota regained the lead 4-2.

Ober turned in one of his better outings of the season with seven strikeouts, only three hits and two earned runs through fiving innings of work. Cole Sands came in and relieved him of his pitching duties in the sixth inning.

Jay Jackson came in to replace Sands in the seventh inning and things began to unravel. The 36-year-old RHP allowed three baserunners and got only one out before Steven Okert came in to replace him. His first batter Cal Reigh hit a grand slam, giving the Mariners a 6-4 lead.

Minnesota quickly answered back with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning from Kyle Farmer, cutting the deficit to 6-5.

Max Kepler got on base to start the bottom of the eighth inning with a double. Austin Martin found contact and a bang-bang play at first base saw Mariners pitcher Tayler Saucedo suffer a serious lower leg injury, ultimately resulting in Kepler finding home for the game-tying run.

Watch: Mariners pitcher suffers scary lower leg injury vs. Twins.https://t.co/fOlkLtDbso

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Jorge Alcala replaced Okert in the eighth inning and it took only eight batters to get through the inning, but it was a different story in the ninth. He allowed four hits and four runs, giving Seattle a 10-6 lead and ultimately the win as he was handed his first loss of the season on the scorebook.

Minnesota falls to 20-15 on the season and they will face Seattle tomorrow night at 6:40 P.M. (CT) in game three of a four-game series.