Twins lose 9-2 to Red Sox, ending Minnesota’s 12-game winning streak

For the first time in two weeks, there was no music playing inside the Twins clubhouse after a game. One hitter went immediately to the batting cages with the hitting coaches, and the players who spoke to reporters weren’t in the mood to spend much time reflecting on previous games.

Even the original Rally Sausage, which sat in the dugout for most of the Twins’ 12-game winning streak, was nowhere in sight after a 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday at Target Field.

“It might be in the trash by now,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the summer sausage that was lobbed to hitters after homers. “Honestly, where it belongs. We can always get a new one. I think we have a box of them somewhere. The guys throwing sausage around will be ready to go, trust me.”

The Twins knew their winning streak, tied for the second longest in team history, wouldn’t last forever. Playing in front of an announced crowd of 29,638, the most fans the Twins drew to a game since their home opener, they didn’t capitalize on their offensive opportunities before relievers Kody Funderburk and Jay Jackson combined to give up six runs in the final three innings.

It was the Twins’ longest winning streak since they won 15 consecutive games in 1991.

“We’ve had a lot of guys just go out there and perform — and not one or two,” Baldelli said. “The vast majority of the club has either gotten hot at some point or pitched us to wins, being a big part of that. I think it has invigorated the group in a lot of ways.”

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BOXSCORE: Boston 9, Twins 2

The Twins loaded the bases with none out after three consecutive singles in the second inning. The club entered Sunday with three hits in 25 at-bats (a .120 average) when batting with the bases loaded this year, and it remained the team’s Achilles’ heel. Red Sox starter Cooper Criswell recorded back-to-back strikeouts against Willi Castro and Carlos Santana, and he induced a weak comebacker to the mound from Jose Miranda to end the inning.

A leadoff walk in the fourth inning was erased by a double play. Santana hit a leadoff double in the fifth inning, and he didn’t advance after two popups and a strikeout.

Max Kepler and Carlos Correa drew back-to-back walks in the sixth inning, but that threat fizzled when Trevor Larnach struck out and Castro flew out. Castro’s career-high 10-game hitting streak ended. He slammed his helmet to the ground after grounding out with a runner on base in the eighth inning.

“It did feel like every time an opportunity arose in the past 12 games, it felt like we were always coming through,” Correa said. “Today was just one of the days that we’re not able to do that. But at the same time, looking at the big picture, it’s been a couple of good weeks. We’ve just got to keep going, man. It’s a fun team.”

Ryan Jeffers hit a solo homer in the third inning, one inning after the Twins wasted their bases-loaded opportunity, and the Twins never built on their early lead. Twins starter Joe Ryan yielded four hits and one walk in six innings, including a go-ahead two-run homer to Ceddanne Rafaela in the fifth inning.

With the Twins trailing by two runs in the eighth inning, five consecutive Red Sox hitters reached base against Funderburk. Vaughn Grissom hit a bases-loaded, two-run double off the right-field wall, and Twins left fielder Manuel Margot allowed two more runs to score when he lost a fly ball in the sun.

“We were very consistent for a long time,” Correa said. “Hopefully, we can start a new one [Monday] and just keep on with the approach, same discipline, same work and same mentality.”