The Seattle Mariners topped the Twins 4-3 in their playoff push, handing Minnesota its 100th loss of the season on their home finale.
“It doesn’t sit well,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune. “I’ve never experienced it [before].”
It is only the second 100-loss season in Twins history. Minnesota will now look to stave off 102 losses, the club record set in 1982, in their final six games.
“Over the last 10 [games] I was definitely thinking about it, trying to do all I can to stay away from that number,” Twins lefthander Hector Santiago, who lasted 5.2 innings, told the Star Tribune. “Obviously we got there. I was on the mound. Definitely, when you come to the ballpark it is somewhere you don’t want to be.”
Max Kepler hit his 17th home run of the season, his first in 71 at-bats, but Nelson Cruz hit two and Jesus Sucre hit one for the Mariners and the Twins committed three errors in the loss — including two by Jorge Polanco.
“It was a game that was out there for the taking,” Molitor told the Star Tribune.
As a result of their fifth losing season in six years, attendance at Target Field has dropped below two million total for the first time in the park’s history. It is the first time Twins attendance has dropped below two million since the 2004 season.
“I would like to at least acknowledge the fact that despite the year we were able to feel supported as a group by our fans this year,.” Molitor told the Pioneer Press. “Drawing close to 2 million fans in a year where things don’t go particularly well, I want to acknowledge that on behalf of the team. We appreciate the people coming out.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Associated Press]
