Twins overcome Bautista’s 2 HRs to beat Blue Jays
MINNEAPOLIS — Darin Mastroianni got his first major league hit and drove in three runs to help the Minnesota Twins overcome Jose Bautista’s two homers in a 7-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Ryan Doumit added two RBIs and Denard Span had two hits and scored twice in a game that lasted 3 hours, 17 minutes, after rain delayed the first pitch for 1 hour, 51 minutes. Nick Blackburn snapped a 13-start winless streak.
Bautista hit two solo homers, raising his total at spacious Target Field to nine in nine career games. Minnesota stars Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau have hit seven home runs in 194 games at the 3-year-old ballpark.
Eric Thames and Edwin Encarnacion also homered for Toronto, which lost for just the second time in nine games at Target Field.
With the potential tying run on third and Matt Capps on the mound in the ninth, Bautista popped up to third base to end the game.
It was Capps’ sixth save in six chances.
Mastroianni’s single in the fifth scored Josh Willingham and Doumit to give the Twins a 6-2 lead.
Bautista led off the sixth with his second home run of the night and Thames followed two batters later with a two-run shot that landed in front of the black batter’s eye in center field.
After Mastroianni drove in an insurance run in the seventh with a single to left, Encarnacion went deep off reliever Glen Perkins to cut it to 7-6.
Perkins then allowed two singles, but got Colby Rasmus to ground into a double play and pinch-hitter Ben Francisco to fly out and end the inning.
Blackburn (1-4) was pulled after Thames’ home run, but left with a lead for the first time this season.
Kyle Drabek (2-4) was removed after 4 1-3 innings and 109 pitches — only 61 for strikes. He’s lost four consecutive starts for the first time in his career.
Drabek’s short outing also broke a 34-game streak of Toronto starters lasting at least five innings.
The Blue Jays entered with the third-highest walk total in the American League. Four pitchers walked nine Twins in the game.
Minnesota failed to capitalize early, however, going 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position before getting four runs in the fifth.
NOTES: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Morneau might take some swings to test his sore wrist on Saturday. Gardenhire doesn’t expect Morneau to go on a rehab assignment when he returns. ... The Blue Jays’ record for consecutive games in which the starter lasted at least five innings is 43, set from May 5 to June 21 in 1996. ... Twins reliever Jared Burton pitched a scoreless seventh and has not allowed a run or hit in his last 11 1-3 innings. ... P.J. Walters gets his first start for the Twins on Saturday. Walters was called up from Triple-A Rochester after Wednesday’s loss to the Angels and is 2-0 with a 7.24 ERA in two career starts. Drew Hutchinson (1-1) goes for Toronto. The rookie has allowed four or more runs in three of his four starts.