Cold game, cold stats as Twins fall 11-4 to Mariners

Seven games in, and Logan Morrison is still looking for his Welcome to Minnesota moment.

He had not one, not two, but three chances Saturday to deliver a big blow or at least a productive at-bat but failed to come through.

The Twins' 11-4 loss to Seattle had plenty of culprits. Jose Berrios looked untouchable for three innings before failing to get out of the fifth. The Mariners' five-run eighth inning came with relievers Zach Duke and Trevor Hildenberger on watch. And Morrison wasn't the only Twins hitter to fail with runners in scoring position.

But he has mustered one RBI so far and is 1-for-19 in his Twins career and 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Miguel Sano (eight RBI), Brian Dozier (four home runs) and Joe Mauer (.364 batting average) have impacted the offense early. But Morrison, who slugged 38 home runs a year ago for Tampa Bay, is nowhere to be seen in the scoring summaries.

"One of the reasons I decided to come here is that I didn't have to be the guy, I could be a piece," Morrison said. "Sanny and Doz and all those guys are going right now. If they go through something, hopefully I'll be there to pick them up."

The game-time temperature of 27 degrees made it the coldest start to a game in Twins history. Major League Baseball allowed the teams to warm up relievers in indoor facilities at the park rather than the frigid bullpen.

The Twins fell behind 5-0 after five innings after Berrios faltered in the fourth and fifth. But the Twins struck for three runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Sano and run-scoring singles from Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar. Morrison already had lined out to right with two on in the first when he had a chance to join in on the fun in the sixth but struck out with Rosario on second.

The Twins attempted another rally in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out. Rosario struck out, bringing Morrison to the plate against Mariners reliever Juan Nicasio. Morrison worked the count full, fouling off some pitches and taking others just off the plate.

On the eighth pitch of the encounter, Morrison got a fastball clocked at 94 miles per hour.

"He was pounding me in, then [threw] a heater away," Morrison said. "I was looking at the film [afterward]. Barreled it. Just got under it a bit."

Morrison hit a popup in foul territory to third baseman Kyle Seager.

"I thought Logan put together a really good at-bat," manager Paul Molitor said. "It didn't end up the way we hoped he ended up, fouling out over there. He put on some good swings. He put up a good fight. We were one hit away from either tying it or taking the lead."

That ended up being the Twins' final big threat of the game, as Seattle followed by scoring five runs in the eighth to put the home team away.

Morrison was left to wonder if the result would have been different had he gotten a hit in the seventh. Maybe the Twins would still be batting.

But he's left still looking for his introductory offensive moment.

"I haven't sensed any type of extra anxiety or panic," Molitor said. "He's been taking pretty good at-bats."

Morrison agreed, but that is not helping things right now.

"It's a process," he said, "but, shoot, it would be helpful if some hits started falling and [I] started getting some good results with the at-bats."