Twins cash in late, sweep Blue Jays in 3-game set
Brian Dozier scored the go-ahead run on a hit by pitch to spark a six-run 11th inning, and the Minnesota Twins recovered from blowing a late lead to rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-6, in American League baseball action Wednesday.
Jake Petricka (1-1) loaded the bases with two out on a double and a pair of walks before narrowly hitting Max Kepler with a 2-2 slider to give Minnesota a 7-6 lead. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was ejected arguing the call.
Mitch Garver followed with a two-run double to bring his RBI total to five on the day, and Robbie Grossman, Joe Mauer and Eddie Rosario drove in three more.
Four of the six 11th-inning runs were charged to Petricka while Luis Santos allowed the others.
Matt Belisle (1-0) pitched the 10th and Fernando Rodney handled the bottom of the 11th.
Toronto (46-55) had tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth on a bases-loaded, two-run single from Luke Maile and a force out from Aledmys Diaz. That erased the 6-3 lead Minnesota had built up in the top half of the frame on a pair of RBI singles from Garver and Joe Mauer.
Garver had also hit a sixthinning solo homer and had a run-scoring single in the second for the Twins (47-53), who swept the three-game series. Mauer had three RBIs.
Kendrys Morales drove in a pair of early runs for the Blue Jays and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. extended his multi-hit streak to eight games, a record among Toronto rookies.
Sam Gaviglio started for Toronto, allowing three runs and six hits over five innings while walking three and striking out four.
Ervin Santana, in his first start of the year after having surgery on his right middle finger in the off-season, pitched five innings and allowed three runs and seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Morales RBI double.
The slow-footed Morales was helped on the play by a miscue from Max Kepler, who tripped and fell to the turf while attempting to throw the ball from right field.
The Twins scored three runs off Gaviglio in the second inning, but Toronto cut the deficit in the bottom of the frame and tied the game 3-3 in the fifth when Morales drove in Gurriel Jr. Gurriel had reached on a double, giving the Cuban rookie at least a hit in 14 straight starts.
Santana’s last start for the Twins was Oct. 3 2017 in the AL wild-card game against New York. He lasted just two innings and allowed four runs on three hits, including two homers. NOTES: The game took four hours and 20 minutes . ... Attendance was 32,686 . ... The Blue Jays have an off day Thursday before starting their longest road trip of the season on Friday. They’ll play three games against the White Sox over the weekend before three games in Oakland and four in Seattle.