MINNEAPOLIS _ Ervin Santana wasn't the same pitcher Wednesday as he was last Friday, when he shut out the San Francisco Giants.
He never is.
Santana's teams entered the night 3-7 in his next start after a shutout, and the Twins are 0-4, an odd pattern that emphasizes that momentum among starting pitchers probably doesn't exist. The Mariners handed Santana a two-run deficit just five pitches into his start on Wednesday, added three more runs in the third inning, and chased him after just five innings in a game that Seattle won 6-4.
Santana, who leads the majors with three shutouts this season, but who hasn't followed up a shutout with a victory since 2011, surrendered a single to Ben Gamel to open the game, then left a 1-1 slider high in the strike zone to Mitch Haniger, a pitch that wound up two rows deep in the left-field stands. The Mariners loaded the bases against the Twins' ace in the second inning, but Robinson Cano stranded all three with a grounder to short.
But in the third inning, the Mariners used the home run to punish Santana once more, mounting a three-run rally with two outs. Danny Valencia and Jarrod Dyson singled, sending up Mike Zunino with runners on base. That hasn't ended well for the Twins lately; Zunino had hit three homers against Minnesota pitching already this month, including a walk-off winner in Seattle one week earlier.
This time, the Mariners catcher got a slider low in the strike zone, and he golfed it high off the upper-deck facade above the bullpens in left field.
Santana got a measure of revenge, or so the Mariners thought, by hitting Haniger in the elbow with a two-strike fastball in the fourth inning, then ricocheting a pitch off Zunino's shoulder in the fifth. Zunino yelled at Santana as he took first base, and the umpires huddled together. They finally warned both benches about throwing at hitters, a warning that Santana visibly objected to.
The Twins, though, used home runs to close the 5-0 deficit. Eduardo Escobar, following his five-hit Tuesday, slammed a fifth inning pitch from Seattle rookie Sam Gaviglio deep into the right field stands, his sixth homer of the season.
Two batters later, Byron Buxton smacked his fourth of the season into the Mariners' bullpen, making it 5-2.
And an inning later, after Seattle added an unearned run off reliever Buddy Boshers on a two-out single by Danny Valencia, Miguel Sano joined the fun, reaching out to club an outside pitch into the second deck in left-center, his 16th homer of the season.
The two-run shot also gave him 48 RBI this season, pulling him within four of Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz for the AL lead.
The Twins tried to mount a rally in the ninth. Jason Castro walked and Byron Buxton got an infield hit, bringing up Eddie Rosario who had hit three home runs the day before. He struck out this time for the second out of the inning.
Brian Dozier came up next. He flied out to center field.
