MINNEAPOLIS -- The struggles continued for the Minnesota Twins bullpen in a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners in extra innings.

A pitching duel between Twins starter Mike Pelfrey (eight innings, four hits, no runs) and Mariners starter Hishashi Iwakuma led to a scoreless game in the top of the ninth inning.

Minnesota closer Glen Perkins, who had given up six runs in his last 4 2/3 innings, came on and immediately gave up a long solo home run by Seattle slugger Nelson Cruz -- his third home run in the last three games.

Things looked bleak for the Twins, as they had only managed one hit against Iwakuma until Brian Dozier tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run into the upper deck in left field.

Tied 1-1 in the top of the 11th, Minnesota's newest addition, reliever Kevin Jepsen, came on and walked the first two batters he faced. Jepsen struck out Cruz before being relieved by Brian Duensing.

On his first pitch, Duensing gave up a long double to Logan Morrison, scoring the go-ahead run. Seattle would score two more runs on a bases-loaded single by Austin Jackson off of reliever Casey Fien to make the score 4-1.

With the loss, Minnesota falls to 54-50 on the season -- splitting the four-game series with the Mariners.

The Twins will travel to Toronto to take on the new-look Blue Jays tomorrow at noon with Ervin Santana (2-1) set to take on David Price (9-4)

 

 

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