Chris Paddack hit early as Twins fall to Rockies

DENVER The Twins began the second half of their season on Friday evening in Denver with pivotal games left before the July agreement deadline and as they attempt to work their way up in the wild-card standings a series against the Colorado Rockies who are on pace to record the worst record in Major League Baseball history looked like a good place to start But the Twins would never recover on Friday after starter Chris Paddack allowed extra-base hits to the first four batters he faced That put them in a four-run hole in an eventual - loss to the Rockies at Coors Field The meeting could have looked different if Rockies - third baseman Ryan McMahon hadn t made a leaping snare on a Ty France liner which would have scored a run and extended the first inning But instead of grabbing an early lead the Twins - fell into an early hole when Paddack allowed doubles to the first two batters he faced producing the first run of the meeting Jordan Beck who finished a double shy of the cycle then tripled home Colorado s second run and McMahon added on with a two-run home run to center field Paddack would walk another batter and allow a single requiring pitches to get through one inning of work While the results improved over the discipline of the rest of his start he allowed a solo home run to Beck in the second inning but nothing else in his five innings of work the Twins couldn t claw their way back Rockies starter Kyle Freeland aided by chosen sharp defense behind him allowed just a run in his six innings of work That run came on All-Star Byron Buxton s team-leading nd home run of the year Buxton finished the day with three hits But while Freeland dealt with plenty of traffic in his start the Twins weren t able to capitalize on their baserunners In his last inning of work the Twins put the first two runners on before striking out three times to end their threat All notified the Twins finished the day for with runners in scoring position leaving eight men on That one hit came in the seventh inning when Willi Castro launched the first pitch off his at-bat out to center field for a homer bringing home three runs But though they got within two runs they were unable to dent the Rockies lead further with Brooks Lee hitting into a double play to end the top of the eighth before the Twins left Ryan Jeffers who had four hits in the loss on base in the ninth Eight of the Twins hits in the loss came from Buxton Jeffers and Castro who were hitting atop the lineup Related Articles Joe Ryan Byron Buxton relish experience at All-Star Battle Five questions facing the Twins as season s second half begins Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield to be honored at Toni Stone Stadium All-Star Event Schwarber s homers break tie in first-ever derby decider Former Twins pitcher Dan Serafini convicted of murdering wife s parents