A day after he hit three home runs and had 14 total bases, tying a team record, Kody Clemens followed up one of the best single-game performances in team history by stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and ripping a single to right.
Two runs scored on the play, tying the game at the time. But his big hit was the Twins’ only clutch hit on the night and their inability to get another sunk them on Saturday night.
The Twins fell 5-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second game of the series at Target Field after the Diamondbacks scored three runs in the 10th inning.
Reliever Cole Sands got the first two outs in the 10th before issuing an intentional walk to Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll. The next batter, Gabriel Moreno — who hit a three-run home run off Sands a night earlier — broke the tie with an RBI single. Two more runs scored on Blaze Alexander’s double off the right-field wall.
The Twins’ offense had threatened at different parts of the night but could not break through against Ryne Nelson and the Diamondbacks bullpen for much of the day. Double plays wiped out two of the Twins’ threats and they stranded multiple runners on base in three other innings, including the eighth after Clemens’ big hit.
The Twins finished the day 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 in the loss.
The Twins initially fell behind in the fourth when Joe Ryan allowed a two-run home run to Alek Thomas. Those were the only two runs Ryan gave up in his effort, which lasted four innings.
Ryan, who rebounded after a two-inning start in Kansas City during which he was dealing with an illness, saw the Diamondbacks ratchet up his pitch count, fouling off pitch after pitch. The all-star pitcher departed after four innings, his pitch count already at 93, tying his second-shortest outing of the season.
Though he gave up just the two runs, it very nearly could have been much worse for the starter, who saw Diamondbacks left fielder Jake McCarthy come just inches from hitting a grand slam. The ball went foul and Ryan finished off his second inning of work by getting him to strike out.
After his departure, Pierson Ohl and Cody Laweryson (two innings apiece) and Kody Funderburk each turned in scoreless efforts to get the Twins into extra innings. Laweryson, in his major league debut, struck out a pair of batters.
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