Twins rally to tie game but fall in 10th inning to Diamondbacks

A day after he hit three home runs and had total bases tying a squad record Kody Clemens followed up one of the best single-game performances in crew history by stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and ripping a single to right Two runs scored on the play tying the competition at the time But his big hit was the Twins only clutch hit on the night and their inability to get another sunk them on Saturday night The Twins fell - to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second meeting of the series at Target Field after the Diamondbacks scored three runs in the th inning mathematically eliminating them from the playoffs Reliever Cole Sands got the first two outs in the th before issuing an intentional walk to Diamondbacks - star Corbin Carroll The next batter Gabriel Moreno who hit a three-run home run off Sands a night earlier broke the tie with an RBI single Two more runs scored on Blaze Alexander s double off the right-field wall The Twins - offense had threatened at different parts of the night but could not break through against Ryne Nelson and the Diamondbacks bullpen for much of the day Double plays wiped out two of the Twins threats and they stranded multiple runners on base in three other innings including the eighth after Clemens big hit The Twins finished the day for with runners in scoring position stranding in the loss Not getting runs home from third base less than two outs having the bases loaded that s consistently going to be part of the discussion If you lose and you had all those chances you re going to think about that manager Rocco Baldelli revealed There s no way around it and that was kind of the championship that we were looking at The Twins initially fell behind in the fourth when Joe Ryan allowed a two-run home run to Alek Thomas Those were the only two runs Ryan gave up in his effort which lasted four innings Ryan who rebounded after a two-inning start in Kansas City during which he was dealing with an illness saw the Diamondbacks ratchet up his pitch count fouling off pitch after pitch The all-star pitcher departed after four innings his pitch count already at tying his second-shortest outing of the season I think it was just taxing Ryan declared of his start Not having like a normal couple weeks there going through antibiotics and stuff I just felt pretty stiff and dehydrated I m trying to make pitches the best I can but I think it s just frustrating knowing when you re on you re supposedly going to get a better conclusion Though he gave up just the two runs it very nearly could have been much worse for the starter who saw Diamondbacks left fielder Jake McCarthy come just inches from hitting a grand slam The ball went foul and Ryan finished off his second inning of work by getting him to strike out After his departure Pierson Ohl and Cody Laweryson two innings apiece and Kody Funderburk each turned in scoreless efforts to get the Twins into extra innings Laweryson in his major league debut struck out a pair of batters one of the highlights of the day for the Twins It was a pretty crazy moment Laweryson stated I m still trying to soak everything in that happened tonight I tried not to make the moment bigger than it was Obviously it was something I was dreaming of my entire life To be able to go out there and throw two clean innings was just a blessing Related Articles Kody Clemens continues to carve out role for himself moving forward Twins rally after bullpen surrenders ninth-inning lead Twins Christian Vazquez returns from scary infection in shoulder Twins experiment on base paths is paying off Twins allow a run late fall to Angels in series finale