MINNEAPOLIS _ If this Minnesota Twins' season was the latest Netflix binge-watch, you'd be mocking it for all the absurd plot twists. And you'd roast Tuesday's epic five-hour 14-12 loss to the New York Yankees, in which the lead changed hands twice in the eighth inning and twice more in the ninth before finally being settled in the 10th, as the unlikeliest piece of fiction since the "Game of Thrones" finale.
It's a wonder there were no dragons flying around Target Field.
There were plenty of baseballs doing so, however, and every time it seemed like they would stop, another blast would ricochet off the wall or sail far over it. The Twins hit four home runs, the Yankees two, and the teams added 10 doubles for good measure. Both team's starting pitchers were shredded, both team's closers blew ninth-inning leads, and the Twins' mild-mannered manager and hitting coaches were thrown out for objecting to balls they felt were strikes, and vice versa.
The game even ended in remarkable fashion, with former Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks tracked down Max Kepler's drive in the left-center gap to preserve the Yankees' victory.
Miguel Sano drove in five runs with a pair of blasts, including what seemed like the game-winner in the eighth, a 457-foot cannon shot that set off delirium among the 32,470 at Target Field.
But he was outdone by Didi Gregorius's 5-for-5, seven-RBI night and then in the ninth by former Twins outfielder Hicks' crazy two-out, two-run shot into the Twins' bullpen off Twins closer Taylor Rogers. And in the 10th, by three straight singles, including the go-ahead hit by Gleyber Torres, and a run-scoring wild pitch by Kohl Stewart, the Twins' seventh pitcher.
Yet ironically in a game that featured 35 hits, the Twins ninth-inning, game-tying comeback was conjured up simply by taking pitches. Ehire Adrianza, Mitch Garver and Max Kepler all drew walks off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, Jorge Polanco flew out deep enough to score Adrianza and tie the game, and a 12-12 tie was taken to extra innings to settle it.
The Indians lost in extra innings in Toronto, handing the Twins an opportunity to add a lead to their dwindling AL Central lead. But before the Twins could bank it, the Yankees came roaring back with a five-run eighth to take a 10-9 lead. Then Sano's two-run blast off Zack Britton put the Twins in front again, 11-10. And with the crowd on its feet, ready to celebrate the Twins' third straight victory, Mike Tauchman walked on a 3-2 fastball, and Hicks pounded a first-pitch fastball into the bullpen.
Watching their team give up such a big lead in such a painful fashion was too much for manager Rocco Baldelli and hitting coach James Rowson, whose complaints about home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus' strike zone cost each of them their second career ejections. Baldelli was irate that De Jesus called Tyler Duffey's 3-2 slider to Luke Voit in the eighth inning ball four, bringing Gregorius to the plate to double home the go-ahead runs, and Rowson was tossed after a high fastball from Chapman was ruled a strike on Adrianza.
