Dodgers sweep of Twins no walk in the park

Scott Van Slyke and Drew Butera each homered in the 12th inning against left-hander Brian Duensing to give the Dodgers a 4-3 win and a three-game sweep of the Twins in a little over 28 hours at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Van Slyke, who leads the Dodgers in hits (nine), home runs (three), doubles (four), extra-base hits (seven) and times reaching base (14) against southpaws this season, also tripled and stole a base in Thursday's doubleheader nightcap. It was the 13th game by a Dodger with a home run, triple and steal in the same game since 1914, and the first since Marlon Anderson in the 4+1 Game in 2006.

The home run gave the Dodgers their first lead of the game, then Butera followed with a solo shot, his first home run since July 1, 2012 for an insurance run that was very much needed.

Jamey Wright pitched three scoreless innings of relief for his second win of the year.

Kenley Jansen loaded the bases with nobody out in the 12th inning and allowed a run, but recorded the final three outs for his 11th save of the year. Chris Colabello's would-be two-run game-winning single was instead caught by a leaping Adrian Gonzalez to end the game.

Jansen threw a season-high 34 pitches, putting his availability for Friday in question.

The 12th-inning home runs ended what could have been a frustrating night for the Dodgers, who had nine hits and 11 walks in the first 11 innings but only two runs.

The Dodgers put at least two runners on base each of the first seven innings, 18 total, but left a total of 16 runners on base in the game. But beginning with this bases-loaded diving grab by Brian Dozier to rob Dee Gordon and end the seventh inning, Twins pitchers retired the next 11 Dodgers batters.

The Dodgers managed to put 10 runners on base against Twins starter Kris Johnson and even chased him after 4⅓ and 106 pitches. But they failed to cash any of them in.

Johnson struck out five but he walked six, becoming just the seventh starting pitcher in the last 50 years to issue six bases on balls against the Dodgers without allowing a single run.

Red Patterson struggled in the first inning in his major league debut, needing 30 pitches to get out of the frame. But after allowing a single run, he recovered to retire 11 straight at one point. Patterson did a good job of keeping the ball on the ground, with eight groundouts and four flyouts, but he hit a wall in the fifth. After a pair of walks in the inning, the right-hander was lifted with two outs though both runners were stranded.

Patterson left with the Dodgers trailing, but allowed just the one run on two hits and three walks in his 4⅔ innings, with one strikeout.

The Dodgers finally scored in the sixth inning, when Van Slyke hit his first career triple, which led to center fielder Aaron Hicks hurting himself against the wall. Hicks left the game in the seventh with concussion-like symptoms, per LaVelle Neal of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Juan Uribe singled home Van Slyke to tie the game at 1-1.

The Dodgers answered with a pair of costly errors in the bottom of the sixth, one ball thrown away by Uribe and another by Brandon League leading directly to the go-ahead run. The Dodgers lead the majors with 31 errors in 29 games.

Gonzalez answered with a home run, again to left center field, in the seventh inning to tie the score at 2-2. The National League-leading ninth home run of the season for Gonzalez was the first home run hit in the three-game series by either team.

After the run against League in the sixth, the Dodgers bullpen held Minnesota scoreless for five innings until the 12th. Paco Rodriguez struck out two batters to get out of the seventh, and though he left with two runners on with nobody out in the eighth, Brian Wilson was able to escape trouble by retiring three straight, including two strikeouts of his own, before Wright's solid work.

Notes

The Dodgers have played seven extra-inning games this season, their most through 29 team games since 1985. The last time a Dodgers team played more extra-inning games in their first 29 game was in 1967, with nine such contests.

Puig singled in his first two at-bats, running his streaks to reaching base in nine straight plate appearances and hits in eight straight at-bats. But a groundout in the fifth snapped both streaks.

The 12 walks by the Dodgers were their most since Aug. 30, 2011 against San Diego. None of the walks scored.

The 255 pitches thrown by eight Twins pitchers were the most against the Dodgers this season., and the 205 pitches through nine innings were their most through nine innings as well.

Joe Mauer had three of the Twins' six hits.

5 hours, 11 minutes is the longest game in Target Field history

— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) May 2, 2014

Up next

The Dodgers are expected to arrive in Miami at some time overnight or early Friday morning, then they will open a three-game weekend series against the Marlins. Josh Beckett gets the call in the opener in the city he called his baseball home for five seasons, with Tom Koehler starting for Miami.

Game 2 particulars

Home run: Adrian Gonzalez (9), Scott Van Slyke (3), Drew Butera (1)

WP - Jamey Wright (2-1): 3 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

LP - Brian Duensing (0-1): 2⅔ IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Sv - Kenley Jansen (11): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks