The Minnesota Twins’ awful postseason losing streak continued, and a costly error by Jorge Polanco did not help.
The Houston Astros beat the Twins 4-1 in Game 1 of their wild-card series on Tuesday in Minnesota. That handed the Twins their 17th straight postseason loss, dating back to 2004. That streak is the worst in MLB history. The Red Sox had a 13-game postseason losing streak from 1986-1995, while the Phillies had an 11-game streak from 1915-1976. The Twins are even worse.
Things might not have gone that way if not for Polanco’s error.
The game was tied 1-1 in the top of the ninth inning, and Sergio Romo was pitching. He allowed two singles to start the inning and then got two outs. Then George Springer hit a sharp ball to short that one-hopped Polanco, who threw to second. Polanco’s throw was wide of the bag, allowing the Astros to load the bases.
The next batter was Jose Altuve, who walked to break the tie. Michael Brantley followed with a two-run single to make it 4-1, which was the final score.
Polanco making a defensive stop on that ball was the hard part. The throw was the easy part, but he blew that.
Minnesota actually got two hits in the bottom of the ninth but grounded into a double play to end the game. The Twins now need to beat Houston two times in a row to advance to the ALDS.
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