Twins done in by sloppy 8-run inning in loss to Rays

Sometimes all it really does take is one bad inning.

A mix of bad luck, sloppy defense and bad pitching by the Minnesota Twins allowed the Tampa Bay Rays to score eight times in the fourth inning, sending the Twins to their second straight loss.

Facing pitcher Louie Varland, who the Twins officially called up before the game and put in after Ronny Henriquez threw a scoreless first, the Rays got their first two batters on in the inning via a single and a walk.

Varland got the next batter to fly out but here’s what followed:

• Wild pickoff attempt that scored a run and put a runner at third (1-0 TB),
• Fielder’s choice, everyone safe (2-0 TB),
• Single,
• RBI single (3-0 TB),
• Grounder to second but low throw home mishandled to score a run (4-0 TB),
• RBI single (6-0 TB),
• Two-run home run (8-0 TB).

That ended Varland’s night after just 2.1 innings, and despite the pair of errors (one on him), all eight runs were earned.

Scott Blewett and Michael Tonkin went the rest of the distance for the Twins, giving up just one more run.

The Twins offense against struggled most of the night but broke through in the seventh. Kyle Farmer led off with a homer before Trevor Larnach doubled, Carlos Santana homered and back-to-back hits by Michael Helman and Matt Wallner brought in another run to cut the Rays’ lead to 8-4.

However, the Twins didn’t get a hit in the final two innings and lost 9-4.

Thanks to a Royals win over the Guardians, the Twins remain 4.5 games behind Cleveland in the division and are again tied with Kansas City for the second AL wild card spot, 5 games ahead of Boston.

The series finale between the Twins and Rays is scheduled to start at 12:10 p.m. Thursday. Pablo López (13-8, 4.05 ERA) is slated to start for Minnesota against right-hander Taj Bradley (6-9, 4.35 ERA).