TORONTO _ The Twins probably got a hint about how Sunday would go on the first pitch of the game.
Jose Bautista hit Kyle Gibson's first pitch to the wall in left-center field, where Robbie Grossman and Danny Santana collided at near full speed as they tried to catch it. The ball was jarred out of Santana's glove for a double, and his shoulder was sprained, too, sending him to the disabled list once the game ended.
Oh, and that game? Another loss, 9-6 the final, the Twins' 10th in a row, tying their fourth-longest single-season skid in Minnesota's 56-year history. This one came complete with a shower of baseball caps on the field, too, a truly Canadian tribute to Josh Donaldson, who smashed three home runs on the day _ a baseball hat trick to the 47,444 inside Rogers Centre.
Not since May 14-24, 2013, had the Twins lost 10 straight, at least in a single season. (Counting their 0-3 finish to 2015 and their 0-9 opening to this season, however, they have already suffered a 12-game skid this year.) The franchise record is 14 consecutive losses, set May 19-June 2, 1982, during a season in which Minnesota lost 102 games, a franchise record. The Twins, 49-81 with 32 games remaining, are now on pace to break that record, too.
And a day after outfield antics and a bullpen meltdown cost the Twins their early lead, this time, well, the exact same thing happened. Bautista's leadoff "double" turned into a run, though the Twins built a 5-2 lead against R.A. Dickey through five inning, with Trevor Plouffe and Miguel Sano providing run-scoring hits.
But Kyle Gibson, for the fifth time in six August starts, couldn't provide six innings, and manager Paul Molitor was left with a depleted bullpen to try to stop the Blue Jays' hot offense. Gibson allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings, but then turned to Pat Light, J.T. Chargois and Alex Wimmers _ a trio of rookies with fewer than 16 major league innings combined _ against Toronto's onslaught.
Donaldson made sure it wouldn't work. The reigning MVP, who tagged Gibson with an upper-deck home run in the third inning, smashed a fastball from Light over the center field fence, putting the Jays in front for good, 6-5. In the eighth, Donaldson blasted a Wimmers pitch over the center field fence once more, and the hockey-loving Canadians threw several dozen caps onto the field while chanting "M-V-P, M-V-P."
Santana, removed an inning after his collision with Grossman, was diagnosed with a sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder, and was expected to be placed on the disabled list after the game. The Twins did not immediately announce a replacement, though outfielder Jordan Schafer, a veteran of 292 major league games with the Brewers, was scratched from the lineup for Class AAA Rochester, perhaps an indication that he will meet the team in Cleveland on Monday.
