MINNEAPOLIS_Have no fear, Jose Berrios. Once the playoffs arrive, the Kansas City Royals can't bother you again.
Berrios, whose two bounceback starts after a monthlong slump allayed some Twin Cities fears about the righthander's readiness for a postseason series, fell victim to an odd pattern Saturday night. He has faced the Royals three times this year, been handed a lead in all three _ and failed to hold it each time.
The Royals rallied against the two-time All-Star, and pinch hitter Cheslor Cuthbert drilled a two-run tiebreaking home run off Taylor Rogers, the start of a seven-run ninth inning in a 12-5 loss for the Twins.
The defeat wasn't as costly as it could have been, however. Bryce Harper clubbed a three-run home run in Cleveland and the Phillies pulled away from the Indians 9-4, ending Cleveland's five-game winning streak and enabling the Twins to maintain their four-game lead in the AL Central with seven games remaining. The Twins' magic number is down four now, too.
But the loss was a little deflating for the Twins, considering that Berrios was the recipient of LaMonte Wade Jr.'s career-best night, and four-run, fifth-inning Twins outburst that allowed the 37,750 at Target Field to relax with a 5-2 lead.
That sigh of relief didn't last long. Berrios responded by giving up five hits in the sixth inning, capped by Ryan O'Hearn's upper-deck blast to right field that tied the game, 5-5. It was the Kansas City first baseman's second run-scoring extra-base hit of the night; O'Hearn also doubled home a run in the second inning.
And just like in his two previous starts against the Royals in April and June, Berrios appeared headed to victory _ and then stumbled on his way. The two-time All-Star hasn't earned a win in his last five starts against the Royals, dating back to last August, despite a 3.66 ERA in those games.
Wade, who seems to be locked in a late-season battle for a spot on the playoff roster, rocketed a first-pitch fastball from Royals starter Glenn Sparkman more than 400 feet into the upper deck in right-center, his second career home run and first at Target Field. Two innings later, he drove a pitch to deep center that Brett Phillips failed to catch, and Wade hustled to third base with his first big-league triple.
He scored when Luis Arraez doubled to right field, and after Sparkman walked Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz singled Arraez home with the go-ahead run, knocking Sparkman out of the game. Polanco scored on a Miguel Sano single, and an error on shortstop Adalberto Mondesi delivered a fourth run in the inning, seemingly signaling the Twins' fifth victory of the homestand.
But Berrios, who had given up only two runs in his past 141/3 innings to quiet the team's worries over his 8.07 in his six previous starts, allowed five of the next six batters he faced to smack base hits, with only an Alex Gordon double-play ball preventing a full-scale collapse.
The Twins bullpen, so trustworthy in recent weeks, shut down the Royals for two innings, with Tyler Duffey extending his streak of scoreless appearances to 24, sixth-best in the team's history, and Sergio Romo following with a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
Rogers, however, was ambushed by Royals offense that has scored the second-fewest runs in the AL. The lefthanded-hitting O'Hearn led off with a single, and after Humberto Arteaga sacrificed him into scoring position, Cuthbert was called upon to hit for Phillips. On a 2-1 count, Cuthbert reached out for a low slider and yanked it down the line, two rows into the left-field seats just inside the foul pole.
The Royals piled on from there against Rogers, Trevor Hildenberger and rookie Jorge Alcala _ making his major league debut _ putting together a seven-run inning, Kansas City's largest of the season against the Twins. Hildenberger faced five batters and failed to record an out.
