Twins rally in eighth inning, then cave in ninth in 4-3 loss to Mariners

After Byron Buxton smashed a two-run homer to give the Twins a one-run lead, Tyler Duffey took the mound in the ninth inning against the Mariners aiming to preserve the victory.

But the plan didn't quite play out as intended.

The reliever gave up the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs, and Seattle beat the Twins 4-3 on Saturday at Target Field. The Twins dropped to 0-2 with their second one-run loss in the season-opening series in front of an announced crowd of 20,867.

Duffey said losing the game after Buxton mounted the comeback and starter Sonny Gray kept the game close weighed on him.

"Guys came in before me and did their job. It's just unfortunate to kind of go through that rollercoaster again, kind of like [Friday]," Duffey said, referencing the 2-1 loss on Opening Day. "At the same time, it's getting the first one out of the way. I look forward to a lot more opportunities like that."

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he had always intended to give Duffey his season debut in the ninth inning Saturday. In prior seasons, that spot would have gone to Taylor Rogers, but the lefthander departed for the Padres in a Thursday trade that brought over starter Chris Paddack and bullpen arm Emilio Pagan.

Duffey gave up a leadoff double to Julio Rodriguez for his first major league hit. Rodriguez advanced to third on J.P. Crawford's groundout, and Duffey then struck out Tom Murphy for the second out.

That brought up the top of the Mariners batting order, and Adam Frazier slapped the first pitch he saw from Duffey to left field, beating out Nick Gordon's throw for a tying RBI double. Two pitches later, Ty France singled to right, scoring Frazier with the go-ahead run.

Duffey said the fastball to Frazier was one he didn't execute properly.

"[I've] definitely got to get to the top of the zone," Duffey said. "Kind of locked in on [catcher Ryan] Jeffers back there and didn't really stick to the visual for my routine."

Despite the result, Baldelli isn't worried about Duffey's ability, saying this is the best he has seen Duffey pitching this early in the season, as the reliever came into camp already in midseason form.

The ninth inning ruined a Twins comeback the previous inning. After going 16 consecutive batters without putting a batter on base from the second through seventh innings, Nick Gordon led off the eighth by drawing a walk from Seattle reliever Andres Munoz. Buxton then crushed a 100.5-mph fastball 436 feet to the third deck near left-center field, clocking an exit velocity of 112.3 mph.

"Obviously, the game was not going the way we wanted it to, so that was a big momentum swing to get to where we wanted to be," Buxton said. "At the end of the day, it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but it's a lot of positives. Got to take those away and keep pushing."

Luis Arraez had opened the scoring in his first at-bat, hitting a first-inning home run on his 25th birthday. But that lead lasted only until the third inning.

Gray surrendered two runs in his Twins debut, going 4⅔ innings. He gave up four hits and two earned runs, walking two batters and striking out four in his 76-pitch day.

The first run came in a troublesome third, when France hit an RBI double in a two-hit, two-walk inning. In the fifth inning, Gray gave up a solo homer to Murphy, the No. 9 hitter.

While Gray was happy with some aspects of his outing, he also acknowledged there's a lot of room for improvement. And part of that is just continuing to build up to at least seven innings following a shortened spring camp.

The way he summed up his first game encapsulated the Twins' start to the season so far.

"It was just OK," Gray said. "… But my expectations are a lot higher than that. And I won't be satisfied until I get there."