This was a game that started pretty quiet and got out of hand towards the end. The Twins took an early lead, the bats were resilient in tying the game after Tommy Milone and Michael Tonkin spotted the Brewers an advantage, but ultimately the Twins bullpen and defense struggled as the Brewers took their second consecutive game 10-5 over the Twins.
The Twins took a 1-0 lead early on Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson with some clutch two-out hitting. Kurt Suzuki started with a double off the left field fence and this is not a typo, Tommy Milone followed by slapping an infield single to deep short. With the Brewers utilizing their exaggerated shift for Eduardo Nunez, he beat it by chopping a weak grounder to where a second baseman would normally play to give the Twins the first lead.
In the bottom of the 4th, Milwaukee tied up the game thanks to the first defensive miscue from Oswaldo Arcia. With Ryan Braun on 1st base retreated on every Milone pitch for fear of being picked off, Chris Carter lined a double into the left-center field gap. Arcia ran over to cut the ball off but had the ball bounce off his glove, allowing Braun to round the bases to tie the game. Despite the misplay, Arcia was not charged with an error.
In the 5th inning, it was the pitching's turn to hurt the Twins. Milone allowed a single and consecutive walks to load the bases with two outs. With Braun up to bat and Milone at 102 pitches, Paul Molitor turned to Michael Tonkin. However, the move didn't pay off as Tonkin walked Braun to give the Brewers the lead, then allowed a two-run double to Jonathan Lucroy to make it a 4-1 deficit.
Despite the misfortune in the previous half-inning, the Twins turned their luck around immediately in the 6th. Miguel Sano was jammed but blooped a single to right-center field to beat the Brewers infield shift yet again and Arcia made up for his defensive miscue by blasting a long two-run homer down the right field line. Then, following an Eduardo Escobar pop out, Eddie Rosario followed with an opposite field solo home run to knot the game back up at 4.
The tie was short-lived though as Ryan Pressly relieved Tonkin and was greeted by a tiebreaking solo home run from Aaron Hill. The Brewers took over from there when Arcia misplayed a routine single from Lucroy that allowed Braun to score from 1st base in the 7th, and Pressly gave up his second bomb when Chris Carter crushed a line drive homer over the right-center field fence. Casey Fien and Ryan O'Rourke also gave up single runs in their appearances and the Twins mustered just one more run in the 9th as the Brewers took the first game in Milwaukee.
WP: Jimmy Nelson (2-1)
LP: Ryan Pressly (1-1)
Studs
Joe Mauer (1-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, K), Eddie Rosario (1-for-3, HR, RBI)
Duds
Twins bullpen (3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 3 HR, 3 inherited runners scored)