Twins' miscues costly in sixth-straight one-run loss

SEATTLE -- The Twins have found themselves on a tightrope repeatedly in June. On Friday night at T-Mobile Park, they were right back on the highwire and couldn’t quite make it to the other side, losing 3-2 to the Mariners in 10 innings.

It’s the fifth straight series-opening loss on the road for Minnesota, and its sixth consecutive loss by one run, a streak that dates back to June 11 against the Rockies. The Twins are 14-10 in one-run games this year, but only 3-6 in such contests in June.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time a team has had six consecutive losses come by one run since it happened to the Marlins from May 2-9, 2022, and the first time it’s happened to the Twins since Sept. 24-30, 1972.

“There are a lot of things that happen in this game,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s what makes the game enjoyable for everyone and unpredictable and all that. We have to find ways to pull out some of the tight ones. We’ve been winning some games by some margins, but we have to do a little better job making all the plays when it matters in the tight games.

“Overall, I don’t think we played a poor game. We had good at-bats. I thought we pitched well. I think there were some funky plays off the bat that we had to deal with today.”

Those funky plays led directly to all of Seattle’s runs, capped by a squibber off the bat of Cal Raleigh in the bottom of the 10th -- with an exit velocity of 61.9 mph and a launch angle of minus-55 -- that dribbled its way into no-man’s land to score J.P. Crawford and give the Mariners the win.

Then again, that was probably the easiest pill to swallow of the three run-producing miscues.

Seattle’s only mark on Twins starter Bailey Ober over the course of six innings came in the bottom of the fifth, when Mitch Haniger drew a two-out walk and came around to score on a Josh Rojas double, thanks to an extra-aggressive send at third base and Christian Vázquez failing to scoop a throw that beat Haniger by three steps.

“It’s a play that we’re going to make, I wouldn’t say 99 times out of 100 times,” Baldelli said. “But at least eight, probably nine times out of 10, we’re just going to make that play and catch the ball, and he’s out by 10-15 feet.”

In the eighth, with the Twins clinging to a one-run lead, the funk returned. With two on and one out, Julio Rodríguez hit a grounder to Jose Miranda at third. Miranda went to tag Luke Raley as he crossed his path, but the Mariners outfielder ran into the infield grass and around him. Miranda’s ensuing, off-balance throw to first short-hopped Carlos Santana and bounced away, allowing Raley to score. After a quick discussion, the umpires confirmed that he hadn’t gone out of the basepath.

“It was a weird play,” Miranda said. “I really thought they were going to call him out.”

The end result put a damper on yet another dominant outing from Ober. Six days removed from the most efficient outing by a Twins starter in nearly 20 years in Oakland, the right-hander took his show north, striking out nine and allowing just the one run on two hits and three walks.

Over the course of two starts, Ober has given up one run in 15 innings, dropping his ERA from 4.81 to 4.30.

Add in his last home start -- June 16 against the A’s -- and he’s put together three consecutive quality starts for the second time this year, a span that’s dropped his ERA by 0.83 and his WHIP by 0.10.

“I feel like I’ve been able to locate better when I get to two strikes,” Ober said. “Mainly just putting guys away early and then if late, maybe surprising them with a pitch they’re not really thinking about. I think our sequencing has been really good the last three weeks.”

This time, though, the quality start wouldn’t hold up, and in another close one, a couple of unusual plays were enough to sway the Twins off the tightrope.

“It’s somewhat frustrating for everyone involved when you lose on funky, unusual plays, softly hit balls, things like that,” Baldelli said. “It doesn’t change the result. We’ve got to find ways to execute those plays and finish those plays.”