MINNEAPOLIS _ On Tuesday, the Twins jumped out to an early lead, only to watch Toronto respond by hitting three home runs.
They needed someone to step up, and Eddie Rosario did just that by walloping a two-run homer in the sixth to give them a 4-3 lead.
But Toronto came back in the eighth against reliever Addison Reed when he issued a leadoff walk to Justin Smoak, who went to third on a double and scored on Kevin Pillar's sacrifice fly to tie it at 4, which is where the score remained until John Curtiss came in for the Twins in the 10th. The Blue Jays stole two bases, took advantage of two wild pitches and scored three times to take the 7-4 victory at Target Field.
Minnesota has lost 11 of 12 and are 2-12 since being snowed-out from April 13-15.
Toronto right-handed starter Marco Estrada is known for his changeup, so the challenge for the Twins was to lay off it as it dropped out of the strike zone. That's easier said than done, especially in hitter's counts.
But the Twins were locked in early. Joe Mauer hit a 3-1 fastball from Estrada over the scoreboard in right-center to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. It was Mauer's first home run of the season and the first one in 104 plate appearances going back to last season.
Three batters later, Rosario tried to hit one were Mauer did but his rocket line drive hit high off the wall in right for a double, scoring Max Kepler, who had walked. One thing the Twins want to do is score a couple runs early and make things easier for their starting pitchers, and they came through with early run support for right-hander Kyle Gibson.
The Twins traded for Jake Odorizzi and signed free agent Lance Lynn during the offseason. Those moves looked to bump Gibson to the end of the rotation, but he has pitched much better than a No. 5 starter. He entered Tuesday's game with three outings of at least six innings, tied with Odorizzi and Jose Berrios for the team lead. He had struck out 17 batters over his past two starts, including a career-high 10 last week at New York. At 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA, Gibson has been a solid member of the rotation.
And Gibson looked in command early, limiting the Blue Jays to one hit and one walk the first time through the order. He was getting swings and misses, and his pitches darted through the strike zone.
The problem was that his pitches also darted out of the strike zone. Despite giving up two runs over five innings _ decent production _ he threw 96 pitches. Gibson went to three-ball counts eight times as he labored at times to throw strikes.
Still, the Twins had a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth inning. But Kendrys Morales led off the inning with the first of his two home runs, then Justin Smoak dumped an RBI single to center, scoring Luke Maile to make it 2-2. That 29-pitch inning was Gibson's final one of the evening.
In five innings, Gibson gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts and got a no-decision.
Eduardo Escobar lead off the sixth inning with a double to right off Estrada, who had been tricking the Twins with his changeup for most of the game but was about to throw his worst pitch of the night.
He threw a cut fastball that seemed to hover over the middle of the plate, and Rosario drove it over the wall in right for his fourth homer of the season and third RBI of the game.
