The Giants Found One Rally. Minnesota Kept Finding the Next Chance

The game turned in the seventh inning, and not because Minnesota suddenly started swinging for the fences. The Twins simply kept the inning alive long enough for ordinary contact to become decisive. A walk, a throwing error and two singles turned a tie into a 4-2 Minnesota victory over the Giants at Oracle Park on Wednesday.

That distinction matters for San Francisco because the Giants had already shown they could build one useful rally. They had not shown they could build another.

Minnesota kept creating the next chance

The seventh began with Emmanuel Rodríguez walking against Dylan Smith. Kody Clemens then reached on a fielder’s-choice play that erased Rodríguez at second, but a throwing error allowed Clemens to advance to second. That was the extra opening Minnesota needed.

Walker Jenkins followed with a ground-ball single to right, scoring Clemens and giving Minnesota a 3-2 lead. The inning had already moved from a walk to a force play, then from an error to a run-scoring hit. San Francisco had chances to end the sequence, but the inning was not finished.

Luke Keaschall struck out on a foul tip after a Giants challenge overturned the call on the field. Brooks Lee then walked, and Josh Bell lined a single to center. Jenkins scored, Lee moved to third, and Minnesota’s lead grew to 4-2. Ryan Jeffers struck out to finally end the inning.

Five Twins reached base in the seventh: Rodríguez, Clemens, Jenkins, Lee and Bell. Only two recorded hits, but that is precisely the point. The inning was built from successive forms of pressure rather than one explosive swing.

The force play appeared to offer a way out. The throwing error reopened the door. Jenkins’ single brought in the first run, and the next walk and single produced the second.

Smith was charged with both runs in two-thirds of an inning. The official record does not explain the pitching change or assign a particular strategic reason for it, so the fair conclusion is narrower: Minnesota’s seventh-inning traffic was converted before San Francisco could close the inning.

Sam Hentges entered with two outs, walked Lee, allowed Bell’s RBI single and recorded the final out by striking out Jeffers. He did not create the entire problem, but he worked in the portion that decided the margin.

San Francisco’s earlier burst had a different shape

The Giants’ fourth-inning lead was real and efficiently earned. Bo Davidson singled, Andrew Knizner doubled him to third, and Marcelo Mayer walked after Brett Harris struck out. Shay Whitcomb then singled to right, bringing home both Davidson and Knizner. San Francisco led 2-1, and the inning produced three hits, a walk and two runs.

But the rally stopped after Whitcomb’s single. Christian Koss made the final out, and the Giants did not score again. Their offense finished with five hits, six left on base and two runs. Whitcomb supplied two of those hits and both RBIs; the rest of the lineup could not generate a second inning with comparable pressure.

The fourth inning also illustrates why a lead can be less secure than it feels. San Francisco had runners at second and third before Whitcomb’s single, so the hit was perfectly timed. Yet there was no follow-up base runner capable of extending the inning.

Minnesota’s later rally kept adding a runner after the apparent escape point. One sequence ended with the big hit. The other continued until two runs crossed.

Cesar Perdomo gave the Giants a workable platform, allowing two earned runs in 5.1 innings with no walks. He surrendered Luke Keaschall’s solo homer in the third and allowed Ben Ross’s triple and Keaschall’s sacrifice fly to tie the game in the fifth. It was not a spotless outing, but it kept the score level long enough for San Francisco to remain in position.

The seventh shifted the game to the relief ledger, where Minnesota made its opportunities count.

The final innings stayed empty

After falling behind, San Francisco went quietly in the bottom of the seventh: Mayer lined out, Whitcomb grounded out and Koss struck out. The eighth was cleaner still, with Jonah Cox, Turner Hill and Victor Bericoto each making an out.

The ninth produced a final flicker rather than a comeback. Grant McCray grounded out and pinch-hitter Drew Cavanaugh struck out before Drew Gilbert singled and Mayer walked. With two on, Whitcomb struck out to end it.

Those last three innings supplied no Giants run, even though the ninth brought two baserunners. The fourth-inning single created a lead; Minnesota’s seventh-inning chain of chances created the winner. After taking the lead in the fourth, the Giants went the rest of the afternoon without another run.

Sources

Official game data

Official game box score