Twins Blow Late Lead, Lose 7-6 In 11 Innings

Well that sucked.

A seesaw game that had the Twins take multiple two run leads late didn't end in their favor as Glen Perkins blew the save in his first appearance of the season, and a wild pitch from Sam Deduno allowed the winning run to score as the Twins lost 7-6 to the White Sox in 11 innings on Wednesday.

The Twins took the first lead at 1-0 in the 2nd inning when White Sox starter Felipe Paulino walked Pedro Florimon with the bases loaded to force in a run, but Twins starter Kevin Correia gave the lead back in the bottom half of the inning. After two one-out singles, Alexei Ramirez doubled to left to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead, and then they added another run on a sacrifice fly by Adam Eaton.

The lead was cut to 3-2 the next half-inning when Trevor Plouffe followed a Jason Kubel double with a single, and then the Twins took the lead in the 7th inning against the Sox bullpen. Joe Mauer led off with a walk against reliever Scott Downs, and then Nate Jones walked Josh Willingham before allowing a ground-rule double to Kubel, scoring Mauer and tying the game at 3. Trevor Plouffe was next and added another clutch single to give the Twins a 5-3 lead.

With this Twins bullpen, you'd think the game would be in hand, but Jared Burton gave up a solo homer to Adam Dunn in the 8th inning. The Twins did add an insurance run in the 9th thanks to a two-out RBI double by Kurt Suzuki, but then Glen Perkins had trouble in the bottom of the inning.

Paul Konerko has accepted a diminished role this year for the Sox, and he was called upon to pinch-hit to start the inning. He led off with a single that bounced off the 3rd base bag and over Trevor Plouffe's head, and then after Alexei Ramirez struck out looking, pinch-hitter Dayan Viciedo singled to right. Leury Garcia then grounded a single to left to score pinch-runner Adrian Nieto, and then Perkins had a shaky at-bat against Adam Eaton where he threw several pitches out of the zone, including a wild pitch that advanced both baserunners. Eaton then chopped a grounder to Plouffe who was playing in, and he attempted to throw out Viciedo at home plate. However, Plouffe's throw short-hopped Suzuki at home, allowing Viciedo to slide in without a play. Although the Sox would load the bases with two away, the Twins managed to escape with the game still tied.

In extras, the teams traded zeroes in the 10th, but then the White Sox took advantage of some more Twins miscues in the 11th. With Samuel Deduno making his first relief appearance in the majors since 2011, he gave up a bunt single to Leury Garcia leading off the inning. Deduno then balked Garcia to second base, but managed to strike out Adam Eaton for the first out. Deduno then uncorked a wild pitch to advance Garcia to third before striking out Marcus Semien, which brought up new Sox first baseman Jose Abreu. The Twins chose to intentionally walk Abreu for the second time in the game to bring up Adam Dunn, but it did not work in their favor. Dunn ended up walking, and Deduno's fourth ball was a curveball so far outside that Suzuki was unable to corral it, and Garcia easily made it home to score the winning run for the Sox.

WP: Ronald Belisario (1-0)

LP: Samuel Deduno (0-1)

S: None

Studs

Jason Kubel (2 for 6, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R), Trevor Plouffe's offense (3 for 5, 1 BB, 3 RBI), Kurt Suzuki (3 for 6, 2B, RBI), Kevin Correia (6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K)

Duds

Brian Dozier (0 for 6, 2 K), Oswaldo Arcia (0 for 6, 1 K), Trevor Plouffe's defense (poor throw in 9th allowed tying run), Glen Perkins (1 IP, 3 H, 2 R), Samuel Deduno (2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 wild pitches)