Defensive mistakes add up as Twins' winning streak ends with 9-5 loss to Diamondbacks

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jun 20, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX – As well as the Minnesota Twins played during their four-game winning streak, they showed all the ways they can beat themselves in their series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

In a 9-5 loss at Chase Field, the Twins were undone by their infield defense, an issue that has surfaced throughout the year.

Count all the extra outs the Twins gave the Diamondbacks during a four-run fifth inning:

With runners on the corners and one out, third baseman Brooks Lee fumbled a ground ball off his glove for an error, cutting the Twins’ lead to 3-2. The next batter, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., hit a likely double play grounder up the middle, and shortstop Tristan Gray made a wide flip that nearly pulled second baseman Luke Keaschall off the base. Keaschall stumbled after grabbing the flip, spoiling the double play and enabling the D-Backs to tie the score.

After Twins lefty starter Connor Prielipp gave up a two-out single, he committed a balk to put runners on second and third base. Ildemaro Vargas followed with a hard one-hopper that deflected off Gray’s glove as the shortstop tried to backhand it, and the ball bounced into left field as two more go-ahead runs scored.

That’s the formula to end a four-game winning streak. The Twins haven’t won five games in a row since last year’s 13-game winning streak from May 3-17.

It was a one-run game in the eighth inning — Josh Bell and Royce Lewis hit back-to-back homers off reliever Kevin Ginkel to begin the inning — but their turn at the plate ended with a strike-‘em-out, throw-’em-out double play when Gray watched a called third strike and pinch runner Kyler Fedko was caught attempting to steal second.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Travis Adams pitched into a bases-loaded jam via two infield singles and a walk. Corbin Carroll smacked a three-run triple into the right field corner. Carroll, one of the best hitters in baseball this year, tied the Diamondbacks franchise record with his 52nd career triple.

Infield defense has been an issue that has plagued the Twins for multiple seasons. They rank 29th among 30 teams in defensive runs saved (negative-26), according to Sports Info Solutions. StatCast grades the Twins defense as negative-12 runs prevented, the sixth-worst mark in the majors.

The Twins moved Lee off shortstop, but Gray hasn’t fared any better defensively. Keaschall has graded as a below-average second baseman, too.

After the defensive disaster in the fifth inning, it was the first time the Twins trailed in 33 innings.

Prielipp gave up nine hits and six runs (three earned) in six innings. He allowed a two-out RBI single to Carroll in the third inning and a solo homer to Ketel Marte in the sixth.

Diamondbacks starter Michael Soroka left the game after warming up for the second inning because of posterior left hip discomfort. Soroka, who entered with a 2.15 ERA over his last eight starts, threw a nine-pitch first inning that featured a ball Byron Buxton hit to the left field wall but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Victor Caratini blasted a 430-foot, solo homer with two outs in the second inning against reliever Taylor Clarke in what turned into a de facto bullpen game. It was Caratini’s third homer and sixth extra-base hit in his last 10 games.

For a while, it looked like all the momentum the Twins built during their three-game sweep over the Texas Rangers would flow into another series. Keaschall hit a leadoff single in the third inning, and he scored through a fielding error from third baseman Nolan Arenado, a 10-time Gold Glove winner. Arenado mishandled a two-hopper down the third-base line.

In the fourth inning, after Arizona reliever Drey Jameson issued a pair of one-out walks, Gray bounced a potential double play grounder up the middle. Instead, the ball deflected off the second base bag and ricochet into the outfield to give Gray an RBI single.

Luck appeared to be on their side. Well, until their defense fell apart.