Field Level Media
Aug 19, 2020
Jorge Polanco drove in two runs, including the winner with one out in the 12th inning, and Kenta Maeda took a no-hitter into the ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins edged the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3, on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Polanco drove in Byron Buxton from third with a broken-bat dribbler past losing pitcher David Phelps (2-2) to win it. Buxton, who began the inning at second and went to third on a groundout by Alex Avila, beat the throw home by Brewers second baseman Luis Urias.
Maeda also set a team record with eight consecutive strikeouts but failed to garner the win as the Brewers rallied for three ninth-inning runs and force extra innings.
Eric Sogard broke up the no-hitter to start the ninth with a soft liner over the glove of Polanco for a leadoff single. It was only the second ball hit into the outfield off Maeda, who then departed after throwing a career-high 115 pitches, 78 of which were strikes. He struck out 12 and walked two.
Taylor Rogers took over for Maeda and promptly gave up a double off the left-field wall to Avisail Garcia. After Christian Yelich walked to load the bases, Keston Hiura singled to drive in Sogard. The Brewers then tied it at 3 when pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko bounced into a fielder's choice and Ildemaro Vargas' throw to first on the potential double-play grounder was wide for an error as two runs scored.
Maeda broke the club record of seven consecutive strikeouts set by Jim Merritt in 1966 and equaled by Francisco Liriano in 2010. He came within one strikeout of tying the American League record set by Detroit's Doug Fister in 2012 against Kansas City and equaled this season by Tigers reliever Tyler Alexander against Cincinnati. The major league record is 10 in a row by Tom Seaver of the Mets against the San Diego Padres on April 22, 1970.
Maeda walked the second batter of the game, Yelich, on four straight pitches but then rebounded to retire the next 21 in a row before walking Omar Narvaez during a 10-pitch at-bat with one out in the eighth. He rebounded to strike out Ben Gamel and got Urias to hit into a force out.
Jorge Alcala (1-0) picked up the win and Miguel Sano had two doubles and an RBI for the Twins who improved to 11-2 at Target Field this season.
--Field Level Media