SEATTLE -- Trevor Plouffe's hitless streak reached 20 at-bats at a crucial moment in Friday's 5-3 loss for the Twins.
Trailing 3-0 in the fifth inning, the Twins had runners on second and third with no outs. On the first pitch, Mariners righthander Hisashi Iwakuma threw a split-fingered fastball, and Plouffe popped out to second base.
"You don't necessarily want to hit a splitter there, but I saw it up [in the zone]," Plouffe said. "I was just trying to hit a fly ball to the outfield, and it got in on me."
Plouffe snapped his streak with a single to left field in his next at-bat. He was batting .262/.335/.532 on July 18, and a stint on the DL with a bruised right thumb, he's now batting .247/.316/.498.
"He's pressing," Manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He'll tell you he's over thinking the situations rather than seeing the ball, getting a good pitch to hit. He said that on the bench, and then he went up there the last time and got a hit. So he's just got to get pitches that he can hit. He's trying to do a little too much right now."
