Twins losing skid hits 10 games

Published 7:55 am Monday, August 29, 2016

TORONTO — In a wretched season that can’t end soon enough, the Minnesota Twins keep sinking to new lows.

Josh Donaldson had his first career three-homer game, Troy Tulowitzki also went deep and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Twins 9-6 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Minnesota lost its season-worst 10th straight. The Twins have lost seven straight in Toronto.

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“We’ve been through quite a few rough spots this year,” right-hander Kyle Gibson said. “We’re just looking for a break or the game to kind of turn it around and get back on a good streak.”

Rookie Pat Light, making his sixth appearance of the season, took the loss after giving up Donaldson’s go-ahead, two-run blast in the seventh.

“We’re calling on some people to try and get some big outs and there’s not a lot of experience there for us,” manager Paul Molitor said.

The Twins have lost four straight games in which they score five or more runs.

“We scored over 20 runs in three games and couldn’t find a way to win one,” Molitor said. “It shows you how they’re rolling offensively. It was too much offense and not enough pitching.”

Donaldson began his barrage with a solo homer off Gibson in the second.

Dozens of fans tossed hats onto the field to celebrate the home run hat trick after Donaldson, the AL MVP in 2015, hit a solo shot off Alex Wimmers in the eighth. Groundskeepers and even the Blue Jays’ mascot helped clear the hats away. Donaldson came out for a curtain call as the crowd of 47,444 roared their approval.

“I’ve never had a curtain call before so that was nice,” Donaldson said. “I tried to enjoy it for a second. (Edwin Encarnacion) was on deck after I hit the third one and he had a huge smile on his face. That kind of brought it into reality a little bit there.”