ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Joe Nathan sang a line from the old Blood, Sweat and Tears tune "Spinning Wheels" on Wednesday night, as the Twins tried making sense of perhaps the most bizarre ending to a baseball game they'd ever seen.
"What goes up ... must come down," Nathan sang, in an otherwise silent clubhouse.
On a night when anything seemed possible, that just wasn't true.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays handed Nathan his first blown save of the season and mixed in some unique plays off objects hanging from the Tropicana Field roof to pull out a 4-3, 10-inning victory.
The Twins wasted six strong innings from Boof Bonser, a two-run homer by Torii Hunter and a 3-1 ninth-inning lead, so their mood was a mixture between disappointment and disbelief.
"I think everybody's kind of like, 'What just happened?' " losing pitcher Matt Guerrier said.
Start from the last moment when everything made sense.
• Eighth inning, two outs: Carlos Pena hits a ball off Jesse Crain that goes straight up ... and never comes down. It got lodged in a section of speakers hanging from one of the dome's four catwalks.
After a brief discussion, the umpires ruled it a foul ball, and Crain retired Pena to end the inning.
"I think it kind of freaked us out the first time, when the ball didn't come down," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I think we're still looking for that ball."
• Ninth inning, two outs: Nathan had issued a leadoff walk but struck out the next two batters. With the Twins one out from victory, the Devil Rays tied it with three consecutive singles to left field by Elijah Dukes, Carl Crawford and Ty Wigginton.
Nathan had converted 16 consecutive saves going back to Aug. 26, 2006. Two weeks ago, Tampa Bay handed Nathan his first loss since September 2005, and now this. His ERA against the Devil Rays this season is 12.00. Against everyone else, it's 0.96.
"These guys have been my kryptonite," Nathan said.
• Tenth inning, one out: Guerrier was pitching in a spot that might have gone to Juan Rincon, but he has been bothered by a sore elbow.
Pena -- yes, him again -- hit another ball almost straight in the air. This time, it bounced off that catwalk and landed in the infield.
Second baseman Luis Castillo had rushed in to catch it, but it bounced behind him. According to Tropicana's unique ground rules, that's a fair ball. Pena had a single.
Ben Zobrist replaced Pena as a pinch runner for one adventurous ride around the bases. Brendan Harris followed with a double into the left field corner.
Zobrist seemed a cinch to score, but he tripped and fell as he rounded third base.
twins/mlb
resize text 
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters
