Cal Raleigh blast spoils Chris Paddack gem as Mariners walk Twins off again

After an incredible comeback win on Friday night, the Twins lost in walk-off fashion two days in a row in Seattle.

Jun 1, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) hits a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning at T-Mobile Park. / John Froschauer-Imagn Images

For the third consecutive day in Seattle, the Twins entered the ninth inning trailing. And for the third consecutive day, they found a way to tie the game. Unfortunately, they couldn't get this one to extra innings, as a Ryan Jeffers throwing error set up Randy Arozarena's walk-off single in a 2-1 Mariners win on Sunday afternoon.

This was a wild series. The Twins made some history in Friday night's epic comeback victory, which was arguably their best win of the year. But they followed that up by losing in walk-off fashion twice in a row, including a crazy game on Saturday night.

After the Twins tied it in the top of the ninth on Sunday, Griffin Jax was tasked with getting the game to extras. He allowed a single to Julio Rodriguez, who stole second base and made it to third when Jeffers' throw sailed into center field. Then Arozarena singled through a drawn-in infield to send Mariners fans home happy for the second straight day.

Earlier in the ninth, Kody Clemens drew a one-out walk against Mariners closer Andres Muñoz, and Ty France followed that with a single to left. And after both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Harrison Bader tied the game with a sacrifice fly. It was the second blown save of the series for Muñoz, who hadn't allowed an earned run all year before this weekend.

Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was a thorn in the Twins' side during this entire series. His home run in the seventh inning was the only run scored by either team until the drama of the ninth.

Raleigh's blast spoiled an unbelievable outing from Twins starting pitcher Chris Paddack, who mowed down just about everybody else in Seattle's lineup. The homer came on a curveball below the zone, which says a lot about how locked in Raleigh has been lately. He hit four home runs and drove in eight during the series, and he now leads Major League Baseball with 23 homers this season. Raleigh is on pace to shatter Salvador Perez's record for home runs by a primary catcher in a season (48).

Paddack was simply sensational for the Twins in this one. He came out red hot, throwing 15 consecutive strikes to begin the game. That's the most by any starting pitcher in baseball this year and the most by a Twins pitcher since 2000, according to the Twins.TV broadcast. He was perfect through three innings and had only allowed one hit through six innings until Raleigh's blast.

The final line for Paddack was 8 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts. It was just the fifth time in his career he's hit double digits in strikeouts and the first time in over a calendar year. He threw a career-high 110 pitches, 75 of which were strikes (including 17 swings and misses). His fastball was excellent and he was able to locate his changeup and breaking balls all day long. He also got a bit of help in the former of great defensive plays by Clemens and Bader.

Paddack certainly deserved to earn a victory. But he didn't receive much run support, which has been a theme in his starts this year. The Twins managed just four hits against Mariners starter Luis Castillo, who went six scoreless frames. Carlos Correa stranded a pair of runners with two outs in the third inning, and did so again in the eighth inning against Mariners reliever Matt Brash. Trevor Larnach and France had two-hit games, but the rest of the Twins' lineup combined for two total hits.

The Twins, now 31-27, are headed to Sacramento for a four-game series against the Athletics, who have lost 17 of their last 18 games.