seconds after Paul Stastnys power-play goal made

MINNEAPOLIS - What started as a bad day for the Toronto Blue Jays turned into a record-breaking disaster by nights end. Minnesota scored three straight runs on wild pitches by the Torontos Sergio Santos in the eighth inning, when the Twins walked eight times off three relievers in rallying for a 9-5 victory and a sweep of Thursdays day-night doubleheader. R.A. Dickey (1-3) allowed five runs as Minnesota won the opener 7-0. The Twins trailed 5-1 in the fifth of the night game before the Blue Jays pitching staff fell apart. Steve Delabar walked two batters starting the six-run eighth, setting up Santos (0-1) for trouble as manager John Gibbons called for his closer early. Santos walked all three batters he faced, loading the bases with one out when he put on pinch-hitter Trevor Plouffe. The Twins cut the lead to 5-4 when Josmil Pinto came home on a wild pitch. "Im obviously one of the main guys to blame there. I put us in a bad situation," Delabar said. "That was brutal." The collapse by the Blue Jays bullpen only got worse. Ball four by Santos to pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki was wild, too, allowing Chris Herrmann to score and tie the game. Santos threw another wild pitch to Brian Dozier, and pinch-runner Pedro Florimon raced home for the lead. J.A. Happ relieved Santos, who took his first blown save in five chances this year. Happ walked two more and then Jason Kubel broke open the game with a two-run single, the only hit of the inning. Santos, who has been handling the ninth-inning role while Casey Janssen is on the disabled list with a strained back, threw only four strikes in 16 pitches. "Coming into that situation, I had to be perfect," Santos said. "Looking back on it now, I felt like I was trying to be too perfect there. Tough, obviously. When you see the position guys go out and play in this cold weather, so many innings, its just a long day." The eight walks allowed is a team record, breaking the previous mark of seven free passes issued in the first inning on June 21, 1994, against Boston. The previous time a team walked eight times in one inning was April 19, 1996, when Texas did so against Baltimore. The record of 11 was set by the Washington Senators against the New York Yankees on Sept. 11, 1949. Casey Fien (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory. Jose Bautista took over the AL lead with his sixth homer, a solo shot in the fifth inning. Bautista, who also walked and scored in the first, has gone deep 11 times in 14 games at the ballpark the Twins opened in 2010. Thats the same number of homers Joe Mauer has here in 256 games. Toronto starter Dustin McGowan failed to finish the fifth. But all that was forgotten with the wildness that came later in the game. Gibbons said hes never seen anything like what unfolded in the eighth. "We couldnt throw strikes. We didnt pitch good all series," he said. "Its cold, all right. Its cold for both sides. If youre ever going to get to September or October in the playoffs, its going to be cold." Kyle Gibson (3-0) beat the Blue Jays in the first game, the coldest start, 31 degrees, for an outdoor game in Twins history. The young righty breezed through a Toronto lineup that totalled 20 runs in the previous two games. The veteran Dickey didnt handle the cold nearly as well. "Im traditionally a slow starter so hopefully I can get on track next time. The conditions werent a big deal for me today. It wasnt ideal, but it wasnt something where I was coming in trying to soak my fingers in warm water to keep them warm. I just didnt execute when I needed to make a big pitch, and they put good swings on it," said Dickey, whos ERA rose to 6.26. Despite this dud, Dickey has pitched six-plus innings in two of his four starts. After wintry weather forced postponement of Wednesdays game, workers scrambled all morning to melt snow and ice from the seating areas, and the grounds crew dried the warning track. It would have been better for the Blue Jays if the game was snowed out again. "Im sure once we get on the plane well talk about it a little bit," Santos said. "But once we land in Cleveland, its all Cleveland." NOTES: Dickey is 1-3 with a 6.58 ERA in six career starts against the Twins. ... For the first time in 15 games this season, Blue Jays LF Melky Cabrera failed to get a hit. ... Bautista is hitting .336 with 20 home runs in 39 career games against the Twins. Gary Carter Jersey . The turf is scheduled to give way to actual grass that is bright green, so we dont have to complain any more—we just have to wait a few years. Instead, do feel free to complain if the roof is closed for any reason other than to allow a game to be played. Jeff McKnight Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/810l-john-mitchell-jersey-mets.html . During halftime, Love told The Associated Press he would receive treatment Saturday night and hoped to play Monday night against Houston. "I knew that my quad was bothering me pretty bad so I went out there and tried to move around a little bit and it just wasnt quite right," Love said. J. D. Davis Jersey . With the win, the Marlies complete a three-game series sweep of the Admirals and move on to the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. T.J. Brennan added an empty netter with less than 25 seconds remaining for his second of the playoffs. Yoenis Cespedes Jersey .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference.St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Alexander Steen had two goals and one assist in his return, helping the St. Louis Blues post a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders at Scottrade Center on Thursday. Steen, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, provided an immediate spark and his second tally ignited four-goal third period that carried the Blues to their third straight win. T.J. Oshie had a goal with two assists and Jake Allen made 25 saves. John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski scored in the second period for the Islanders, who have lost three games in a row. Former Blue Jaroslav Halak allowed five goals on 32 shots. Steen gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 4:32 of the third when he came in as a trailer on a rush fired a rebound past Halak. Oshie scored from the bottom of the left circle off Patrik Berglunds pass from behind the net with 4:13 remaining. Kyle Okposo lit the lamp for the Islanders 28 seconds after Paul Stastnys power-play goal made it 5-2 with 2:12 remaining, but an empty-net goal by Jaden Schwartz with 1:04 left sealed St. Louis fifth straight win in the series. Steen scored a power-play goal 5:58 iinto the game.dddddddddddd. He beat Halak on a blast from the point after nice puck movement gave him plenty of room to wind up. Barret Jackman gave St. Louis 2-0 with 5:42 remaining in the first period when he fired a slap shot off a pass from Steen past Halaks glove. The Islanders battled back with two late goals in the middle stanza. Tavares moved to the middle following a faceoff win and fired a wrist shot through Allens five-hole with 3:57 remaining. Grabovski then beat the Blues to a loose puck after another faceoff and scored on a wrist shot from the slot with 5.3 seconds left. Game Notes Stastny has four goals in the last three games ... The Islanders have been outscored 20-6 during a four-game road skid in the series ... St. Louis improved to 10-1-1 in its last 12 home games ... Oshie has four goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak against the Islanders ... Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (groin) was activated from injured reserve after missing eight games. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (concussion) was placed on IR to create room on the active roster for Bouwmeester. ' ' '