SEATTLE — Chris Paddack did everything in his control to lead his team to victory on Sunday. And yet, his effort still went for naught because unfortunately for the Twins right-hander, there’s been little run support to speak of over his last few starts.
The Twins, who showed in the first two games of the series they’re never out of it, came back in the ninth inning for the third straight day, using a Harrison Bader sacrifice fly to tie the game up against Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz.
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But after Julio Rodríguez reached on a chopper that Kody Clemens likely could not have made a play on even if he had fielded it cleanly, the speedy outfielder advanced to second on a stolen base and third when catcher Ryan Jeffers threw the ball into the outfield trying to catch him stealing. He came home and scored on Randy Arozarena’s walk-off single to push the Mariners to a 2-1 victory in the series finale at T-Mobile Park.
And that meant Paddack, in one of the best starts of his career, was not rewarded for it.
“That was what a great Chris Paddack looked like,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He can have different types of good outings but that’s a great outing.”
The only blemish on an otherwise dominant day for him came in the seventh inning when one of the hottest hitters in the game got hold of a low pitch beneath the strike zone and took it out of the ballpark. Cal Raleigh’s fourth home run in three games against the Twins (31-27) was the only run for either team through the first eight innings.
Raleigh, now Major League Baseball’s home run leader with 23, unleashed on a first pitch curveball from Paddack that the pitcher said he liked the execution of.
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“That guy beat us fair and square this series,” Paddack said. “I thought we made some really good pitches to him throughout the whole series and he ambushed us.”
But the rest of the Mariners (31-26) lineup couldn’t do the same against Paddack.
Paddack, who hadn’t pitched at T-Mobile Park since the day in spring training that he was told he was making his first major league roster in 2019, was nearly unhittable in his start, throwing eight innings, giving up just four hits and striking out 10.
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He began his start by throwing 15 straight strikes, something no Twins pitcher has accomplished since 2000, and kept attacking the zone throughout, making quick work of Mariners hitters.
“That was pretty cool, especially against a lineup like that, being able to get the first four or five hitters out without seeing a ball,” Paddack said. “That means my stuff’s on that day.”
It continued to be, all start, and because of the way he was pitching, Paddack was given the opportunity to keep going back out there, inning after inning, throwing a career-high 110 pitches.
“I think every starting pitcher wants to go long in the game, but I think it’s a responsibility you have to earn, a right that you have to earn,” Jeffers said. “I think he’s earned that. … He’s really turned in some really good starts for us.”
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While the Mariners had a breakthrough against Paddack, the Twins couldn’t do the same against Mariners ace Luis Castillo, who worked six innings, gave up four hits and matched Paddack with zeros during his start.
They had their chances — certainly more than Seattle did — putting at least one runner on in five of Castillo’s six innings, including two in the third, when they had a runner reach third base. But they couldn’t convert those runners into runs, and in the top of the eighth, they left another pair on with Carlos Correa striking out to end the inning before spiking his helmet into the dirt in frustration.
They finally broke through for a run in the ninth, but couldn’t quite complete the job for the second straight day, ending a series that Paddack described as one of the “funnest” in his career with a loss.
“I liked the way we played all series and I hope we keep playing that way,” Baldelli said. “We’re going to have to score a few more runs than we did the last game and a half (but) overall, way more to like about this series than be discouraged about.”
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