The Los Angeles Dodgers had their six-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins. The defeat additionally snapped the Dodgers’ 10-game winning streak at Dodger Stadium and has them in danger of losing their first series since dropping two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates from April 25-27.
Clayton Kershaw made his scheduled start despite it coming just three days after his mother passed away. Whether impacted by the emotions from that or simply not sharp, Kershaw labored through four innings.
He nearly stranded Donovan Solano’s game-opening double but allowed an RBI single to Kyle Farmer with two outs in the first inning.
Minnesota threatened to add onto their lead in the second inning, which Kershaw worked out of by striking out Carlos Correa to strand runners at the corners. Byron Buxton also was stranded after his single and stolen base in the third.
The Twins broke through in the fourth inning when Michael A. Taylor led off with a walk and moved into scoring position because Kershaw exhausted all of his disengagements from the rubber without picking him off.
Joey Gallo followed with a base hit and Willi Castro’s RBI single extended the Twins’ lead to 2-0. Kershaw held Minnesota to just the two runs but only got through four innings due to a high pitch count.
Shelby Miller was the first of three Dodgers relief pitchers to appear in the game, and he allowed a run in the fifth.
The Dodgers cut into their deficit in the bottom half of the inning, sparked by Miguel Rojas’ leadoff double. He was nearly stranded at third base but Freddie Freeman’s fly ball into center field dropped when Taylor couldn’t come up with a sliding catch.
That was all the Dodgers could muster despite hitting four leadoff doubles on the night, and the Twins effectively put the game away on Farmer’s two-run home run in the ninth inning.
L.A. went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Dodgers bullpen trouble
Justin Bruihl pitched for a third consecutive night, and Miller and Victor González made back-to-back appearances. The Dodgers figure to make a roster move to add a fresh bullpen arm for the series finale on Wednesday afternoon.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
