Resiliency was the theme of the game for the Minnesota Twins Friday night as they came up big when it mattered most and wound up running away with a 12-6 win over the Mariners in a 10-inning game in Seattle.
Zebby Matthews, the 25-year-old, top-100 prospect, was thumped for four runs in the first inning before settling in and completing seven innings. He gave up four hits, including two homers, in the first inning, and then allowed just two more hits over the next six innings.
Trevor Larnach's solo homer and an RBI ground out by Brooks Lee cut the Mariners' lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning, and Willi Castro's homer in the seventh made it a 4-3 game. But after Cole Sands gave up two runs in the eighth, the Twins found themselves down 6-3 with only three outs separating them from a loss.
It was even more perilous in the ninth. After a leadoff single by Ty France, Kody Clemens and Royce Lewis struck out. Down to their final out, Castro slugged his second homer of the game, Byron Buxton singled and stole second base — and then scored the tying run on a single by Larnach.
In the 10th, Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer for an 8-6 lead. And after a single by Lee and back-to-back walks by Lewis and Castro, Buxton delivered a two-run single and Larnach followed with a two-run double. Just like that it was a 12-6 lead for the Twins.
Larnach led Minneota with four hits and four RBIIs, while Castro, Buxton, Lee and France each contributed two hits.
Up next: Twins at Mariners, Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CT.
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