Minnesota erased a three-run deficit in Seattle on Saturday, then watched the winning run score on a groundout that never should have ended the game.
The Twins spent most of Saturday afternoon climbing out of an early hole at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle scored twice in the first inning on a Julio Rodriguez single and a bases-loaded walk, and Randy Arozarena added a solo homer in the second to make it 3-0.
Minnesota chipped away from there, with Luke Keaschall homering in the fifth, Trevor Larnach cutting it to one run in the sixth, and Brooks Lee doubling to open the seventh before coming around on a Victor Caratini groundout that tied it.
The bullpen held the line into the ninth, when Arozarena led off with a double, moved to third on a fly ball, and scored the winning run after Cal Raleigh's grounder turned into chaos.
Royce Lewis fielded it at first base and stepped on the bag, Rodriguez stopped in the baseline to stay out of a rundown, and when Lewis turned toward second, Arozarena broke for the plate and slid in ahead of the throw home for a 4-3 Mariners win.
Tough Loss
Manager Derek Shelton did not hide from the decision afterward.
"One of the reasons we walked Julio there was because we thought we had a chance to double up Cal if he put the ball on the ground and we just were not able to finish the play," he said to reporters postgame.
Once Lewis tagged first, the force at second disappeared, and Seattle had the exact runner it wanted flying down the line.
It was a sharp piece of baserunning by Rodriguez and a play Minnesota will want back, because one more out would have sent a tied game to extra innings.
The Race Is Still On
The Twins are 56-56 and tied with Cleveland for the final American League wild card spot, three games behind the White Sox in the Central, and they have won seven of their last ten.
The front office has acted like a buyer all week, first striking a deal with the Mets for A.J. Minter, then adding Dean Kremer from Baltimore in a second move.
Minter already pitched in this game, which shows how quickly the new pieces are being put to work.
This stretch started with Kody Clemens stunning the Royals on a walk-off grand slam, and the lineup keeps producing behind Lee, who now has 17 doubles to go with 16 homers, and Larnach, who is hitting .284 with nine home runs.
One botched rundown does not change any of that.
Losses like this sting because the margins in a race this tight are thin, but a club that keeps putting itself in winnable games late is usually doing the bigger things well.
The Twins already took Friday's opener 5-3, they get the rubber match in Seattle on Sunday, and then comes an off day before a series in Kansas City that opens Tuesday.
With the deadline passing Monday evening, this front office has given the roster real help, and the club is still in position to make the last two months count.
