Larnach launches game-winner for Twins' 19th straight game with a HR

SEATTLE -- Trevor Larnach made sure that the Twins’ flight back home would be a happy one, providing a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to power Minnesota to a 5-3 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Sunday.

Larnach came to the plate after Jose Miranda laced a one-out single to left and popped Ryne Stanek’s 0-1 splitter a Statcast-projected 406 feet to center -- with an exit velocity of 103.4 mph -- out of the reach of a leaping Julio Rodríguez and two rows into the seats.

“It was a fantastic swing,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I’ve probably said it enough, but you’ve got to hit the ball good to get it out of here. You’ve got to hit the ball hard over and over again to score runs here, and that ball, he hammered it well.”

Beyond giving the Twins the win, Larnach’s blast made it 19 consecutive games for the club with at least one home run, a new franchise record. They’ve hit 30 home runs in that span, behind only the Orioles, Yankees and Padres.

It’s the second-longest streak of games with a home run in the Majors this year, behind only the Orioles’ run of 22 from June 1-23.

“What we’ve been doing offensively, I think, is quality. It’s been good,” Baldelli said. “We’ve been scoring runs, for the most part, in most games. Our offense has given us a chance to win most games, just like our pitching does that for us for periods of time, too.”

In fairness to the staff, which surrendered just seven runs in three games in Seattle, the pitching wasn’t exactly lacking this series. Joe Ryan capped a run of three strong outings with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. Minnesota’s starters combined for 28 K’s this series, their most in a three-game set since last July, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The fielding was another story, especially in a fifth inning Baldelli simply described as “bizarro.”

After Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the top of the frame, the Mariners brought in a pair of runs on a triple; a bunt where Ryan went home with the ball but the runner didn’t try to advance, allowing Josh Rojas to reach base; a run-scoring fielder’s choice that Ryan mishandled; a fly ball that Byron Buxton lost in the sun; and a ground ball to the right side of the infield where Ryan forgot to cover the bag.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever really seen an inning play out in that manner,” Baldelli said. “We had plenty of opportunities to get it done. I do think that probably the most impressive part of the inning comes back to a positive for us, which is despite running all over the field having to attempt to make all those plays, not making those plays, Joe still was able to go out there and execute pitches.”

Specifically, Ryan went back to his four-seam fastball -- four in a row, the first three of which blew past Ryan Bliss for the second out of the inning, while the fourth got former teammate Jorge Polanco to pop out to keep the lead intact.

“It was just the right pitch,” Ryan said. “In the past, there might have been a little bit more [expletive]-you fastballs. At the same time, it was just the right pitch at the right time. It was coming out good.”

Ryan finished with 11 whiffs on his four-seamer, matching his season high, with a 41% whiff rate.

The Mariners came back to tie things up in the seventh, but Larnach’s blast answered right back.

The shot was Larnach’s eighth home run of the season, but his first since June 16. He now has two of the Twins’ 30 homers on their run of power, one that’s seen Minnesota go 13-6 to end June, keep pace for an AL Wild Card spot in what’s beginning to turn into a real race and deal the Mariners their first home series loss since April.

“I think everyone in our clubhouse leaves this road trip in a really optimistic and positive state of mind,” Baldelli said. “We played well, we played well consistently. We had a lot of very positive pitching performances on this road trip, we swung the bats very well.”