By the time the Byron Buxton slid home from third with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning Tuesday night, there were enough plot twists in the four-hour, 28-minute Twins-Brewers game at Target Field to make Twitter look like a stock market ticker.
But not lost in the Twins’ 4-3 victory was the performance of Twins starter Kenta Maeda, who struck out 12 and pitched eight no-hit innings before Eric Sogard led off the ninth with a bloop single to center field on Maeda’s 115th pitch of the game.
Maeda, in his fifth year in MLB, has not thrown a complete game in the major leagues, but said afterward he routinely threw that many pitches during his eight-year career in Japan, where he did throw a no-hitter.
At one point Tuesday he struck out a team-record eight consecutive batters, one short of the American League record. The MLB record is 10, by Tom Seaver.
“It’s been a while since I threw so many pitches like I did tonight,” he said through an interpreter, “and the hit I gave up was a weak contact hit. I think I executed the pitch and, you know, there’s nothing I could do.
“In my days back in Japan it’s normal for me to throw this many pitches in an outing. But it’s been a while since I pitched in Japan, so I am kind of tired tonight.”
“I realized was in a no-no after the fifth inning. All my pitches were working great.”
Maeda said he knew he was coming out for the ninth inning, despite having thrown 113 pitches, when manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson didn’t talk to him after the eighth.
“That was one of the best games I’ve ever seen pitched in baseball,” Baldelli said. “He was facing a team that he just faced last week, with good hitters, and he dominated. He did everything you could possibly do, he was in total control. He’s showing us all the different dimensions to what he can do out on the mound.
“To watch a performance like that does put you a little in awe. I don’t know what else to say. He was that good.”
Maeda’s previous MLB high for pitches was 111.
Baldelli said he was concerned about the pitch count, but added, “Kenta the other day, I think it was probably two starts ago … when he came out, he said, “I can still go, and at some point I can go 100” or he might have even said 120. And I probably rolled my eyes and patted him on the back and said great job, but here we are. He just threw a lot of pitches, but a spectacular, spectacular night.”
After Sogard singled, reliever Taylor Rogers was unable to get the save as the Brewers tied the game. The Twins had their first extra inning game of the season with the new MLB rule (for this season only) that puts a runner on second base to start each half inning. Still, it took until the 12th before the Twins scored; Alex Avila advanced Buxton from second to third with a groundout, and Polanco had an RBI infield grounder with one out.
Jorge Alcala got his first major league victory.
“Things were flying in every direction throughout the game,” Baldelli said.
Baldelli said Rich Hill would return to the rotation Wednesday night after being sidelined because of shoulder soreness. Second baseman Luis Arraez left Tuesday night’s game because of what Baldelli described as “soreness” and the Twins will need to make a roster move or two before the second game of the three-game series.
Kenta Maeda photo by Carlos Gonzalez