Mistakes undo Twins' chances at series win

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second day in a row, the Twins got a late, game-changing blast to swing the game. This time, they couldn¡¯t take advantage.

For a while, it looked as if the Twins found another hero late in Sunday¡¯s series finale against Oakland, when Andrelton Simmons clubbed a two-out, two-run, game-tying homer in the eighth inning to give Minnesota late life. But two big mistakes proved costly in Minnesota¡¯s pursuit of needed positive momentum, capped by a Josh Donaldson error and run-scoring wild pitch in the ninth that paved the way for a 7-6 loss to the A¡¯s at Target Field.

Instead of a series win over a first-place team to build on the energy of Miguel San¨®¡¯s game-winning homer on Saturday ahead of a crucial series against the division-leading White Sox, the Twins dropped their ninth game of the last 11, dropping to an MLB-worst 13-25 and 10 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central.

¡°We do know that there¡¯s not tons of room -- we don¡¯t have a lot of leeway here to lose games that we have a good chance of winning,¡± manager Rocco Baldelli said.

A good chance, indeed. According to win probability, the Twins had an 84.6 percent chance of claiming victory when they carried a 4-1 lead into the fifth inning, thanks to Max Kepler¡¯s three-run homer in the second and sac fly in the third.

In the eighth, Simmons¡¯ two-run homer off Jake Diekman briefly brought the Twins from a 12.3 percent chance of winning back up to a 52.5 percent chance, as the offense once again showed signs of renewed late fight.

¡°Those are the types of moments and times in the game where you need someone to just come up do something big -- a big moment against a good reliever when we have a guy on base,¡± Baldelli said.

But both times, execution got in the Twins¡¯ way of victory.

Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda, pitching through groin tightness that necessitated treatment after the game, allowed a double and three straight singles to open the fifth before he was pulled with the Twins still leading, 4-2. Following Seth Brown¡¯s RBI groundout, Tyler Duffey induced a rundown, with Elvis Andrus caught between third and home.

Rookie catcher Ben Rortvedt just had to run Andrus back to third for the out, but he threw the ball and couldn¡¯t get out of the way quickly enough before Andrus induced contact with his elbow and drew an obstruction call that tied the game -- which Baldelli acknowledged was an example of Andrus being a ¡°smart player.¡±

¡°Guys that know me, they get out of the way pretty fast,¡± Andrus said. ¡°It¡¯s usually a new guy in the league that doesn¡¯t know that and he just stays there -- it¡¯s pretty easy to get that one.¡±

Another run scored on Matt Chapman¡¯s sacrifice fly, bringing home all three inherited runners without a hit. Twins relievers have allowed 68 percent of inherited runners to score this season, highest in the Majors by a wide margin.

With the game tied, 6-6, in the ninth, Ram¨®n Laureano lined a solid single into left field, and Matt Olson hit a chopper to pitcher Taylor Rogers that could have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, Donaldson -- shifted over to the middle of the infield from third base -- couldn¡¯t handle Rogers¡¯ throw, moving Laureano to third.

One batter later, strike three to Matt Chapman went to the backstop, allowing Oakland to score the go-ahead run.

¡°Wanted to get a punchout of Chapman and try to get two outs and leave him stranded,¡± Rogers said. ¡°We did that and it still didn't go right. Definitely frustrating when you put all that stuff together.¡±

There¡¯s been a good amount of such frustration over the last few weeks, but there could have been a completely different vibe following this game with one or two differently executed plays -- especially considering the offense¡¯s late punch in the last two games.

That¡¯s what the Twins will hope to take forward from this, as they continue to hope they¡¯re close to finally clicking.

¡°If you want to take the pessimistic approach or the [optimistic approach], it's however you want to look at it,¡± Rogers said. ¡°Obviously, this clubhouse, we're probably going to take the positives out of that.¡±

¡°We've just got to be better,¡± Simmons said. ¡°We've got to be more sound with our defense, especially. When it's not going good, you've got to make sure you're doing every little detail well."