PHOENIX – Ryan Jeffers, who hit a game-tying homer in the fifth inning Thursday, ripped an elevated fastball to left field in the ninth inning.
Off the bat, with a runner at second base, Jeffers was sure the ball that he lined at 103 mph would drop for another game-tying hit. Instead, Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ended the game by catching the ball in front of his face.
In a game that featured a lot of hard contact, it was a measly chopper to second base that cost the Twins during their 5-4 loss at Chase Field.
Jorge Alcala, pitching with the score tied in the seventh inning, issued a four-pitch, two-out walk to the No. 9 hitter in the D-backs lineup, Geraldo Perdomo. Corbin Carroll blooped a single to center, putting runners on the corners before Ketel Marte drove in the go-ahead run with a high-bouncing ground ball that he beat out for an infield single.
"Kind of feel like we started talking like this at the beginning of the season when everybody was like line out, line out," said Byron Buxton, who had three of the Twins' six hits, including a fifth-inning homer. "It's like, don't change. It's one of those things where the ball didn't fall our way."
In the top of the seventh inning, D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt issued a five-pitch walk and saw Buxton reach on an infield single, a hard-hit ground ball that Perdomo couldn't handle at shortstop. One pitch after Buxton's single, Jeffers lofted a three-run homer over the left field wall, just beyond Gurriel's outstretched glove.
Jeffers seemingly had no doubt it was a homer, though the ball landed in the first row of seats.
"We have a pretty good sense of what's gone and what's not," Jeffers said. "When I hit it, I felt pretty confident it was gone."
The Twins scored only one run in their first six innings against Pfaadt — a solo homer from Buxton in the fifth inning that traveled an estimated 405 feet.
"See ball, hit ball. That's it," Buxton said. "Don't overthink. Stay in the zone and stay within yourself and don't try to overdo it. I think that allows me to slow the ball down a little bit and have a little bit more quality at-bats. ... It took longer than I expected, but it's good to feel good the last few days squaring the ball up."
After the Twins finished their series in Oakland with phenomenal outings from Bailey Ober and Pablo López, things didn't come as easily for Joe Ryan.
At least, not at first.
The D-backs came out hot against Ryan. Carroll blistered a single to right field on Ryan's fourth pitch, the ball leaving his bat at 111.5 mph past diving first baseman Carlos Santana. Two pitches later, Marte hooked a fastball down the right-field line for a two-run homer.
Ryan dropped into a squat as he watched Marte's line drive clear the right-field wall into the Twins bullpen, staring into the distance as Marte rounded second base.
"It's frustrating, but I executed my pitch and that's all I can do in that situation," Ryan said. "He beat me to the spot."
The second inning started with three consecutive hits, including an RBI triple from Eugenio Suárez that Buxton couldn't corral at the center-field wall. Buxton raced to his left and had the ball bounce off the palm of his glove before he collided with the fence. The next batter, Tucker Barnhart, added an RBI single to center.
"It hit my glove, so I should've caught it," Buxton said. "Simple as that. That's how I look at it."
Trailing 4-0 after eight batters, a switch flipped for Ryan, and he looked more like his rotation counterparts. He retired 13 consecutive batters and 15 of his final 16.
"It feels not great walking in the clubhouse after a game like this where you're thinking we did a lot right and really played OK," Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli said.
