Twins open series at Royals with sloppy 8-1 loss

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Paul Molitor hadn't had time to review the video evidence, but he knows what he believes about the matching foul-pole home runs Friday night: "I thought ours was fair and theirs was foul."

Unfortunately for him, umpires standing on the field and umpires watching replays in New York disagreed with the Twins manager both times. But for all the debate about the blasts down the line, the critical play in the Twins' 8-1 loss to the Royals was caught just 60 feet from home plate.

"The game turned on one play," Molitor said, "and that was the comebacker."

Ervin Santana grabbed Lorenzo Cain's one-hop bouncer in the fourth inning, turned toward second base to trigger a routine double play — and threw the ball past Brian Dozier's outstretched glove. Santana gestured and shouted in anger as Jorge Bonifacio raced to third base.

"It's one of those throws that you make from the side of the mound, and your feet maybe land a little bit differently than if they're on flat ground. It seemed like the ball just took off on him," Molitor said. "You have a chance to get a couple outs and nobody on base, and it turned into a big rally because we didn't execute."

That Santana didn't execute that play was one thing. That he didn't execute what came next was worse.

"I was frustrated because we practice that play for a long time in spring training. I guess I was trying to be too quick because Lorenzo Cain runs well," Santana said. "After that play, I lost my control, my standing. Forgot about the game and just start throwing instead of pitching."

His next pitch, in fact, landed in the seats near the left-field foul pole, and left fielder Eddie Rosario claimed Eric Hosmer's deep fly ball had drifted foul. But the umps disagreed, replay officials upheld Hosmer's homer, and the Twins were on their way to their fourth loss in five games, while Kansas City pulled within a game of the Twins for second place in the AL Central.

"I saw it. It doesn't matter if I say anything. They're not going to change it anyway," Santana said. "To me and to everybody else, it was a foul ball."

Rattled by the sudden rally — he went from no-hitting the Royals through three innings to trailing 3-1 in the space of four pitches — Santana uncharacteristically unraveled, giving up four singles, and two runs, to the next six batters. His night included another home run, Mike Moustakas' 21st of the season, and a triple to Alcides Escobar, seven runs in all in just 5⅓ innings.

That was far more support than Jason Vargas needed. The Royals lefthander, back from Tommy John surgery, is enjoying the best season of his career. Vargas (12-3) gave up two singles over seven innings to earn his seventh consecutive victory and lower his ERA to 2.22.

"We couldn't generate anything off their guy," Molitor said of the soft-tossing veteran. "We talked about approach — I was trying to think of one guy who went opposite field and I couldn't come up with one."

Well, there was one. Brian Dozier lined what looked to the Twins like a home run around the right-field pole in the third inning, but it was ruled foul, and upheld again by video replay.

"I know foul poles are tough, especially when the ball curls around one side or the other," Molitor said. "We couldn't find anything that showed it stayed inside the pole."