CLEVELAND — A little over a month ago, the Twins were in prime position to not only make the playoffs but also contend for a division title.
Following Thursday’s latest crushing defeat, a 3-2 decision at the hands of the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings, the Twins canceled plans to make their rookies dress up in strange costumes for the team charter to Boston.
The group’s decision to delay its pre-planned rookie festivities aptly summed up the mood in the clubhouse after the Twins fell into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for the final spot in the American League wild-card race with nine games to play.
Hopeful of earning a hard-fought split only moments earlier when Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton batted with the bases loaded and the score tied, the Twins were forced to deal with another “what-if” moment after they came up empty. Shortly after that, Caleb Thielbar’s full-count fastball caught too much of the plate and Andrés Giménez hit a game-winning rocket to right, a single that allowed Cleveland to storm the field and celebrate clinching a playoff berth.
Andrés Giménez and the Guardians celebrate after punching their ticket to the playoffs. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
Instead of celebrating a victory of their own, for the third time in four days the Twins suffered a debilitating one-run loss to the Guardians.
“It just sucks, honestly,” Matt Wallner said. “More than how tough it was. Obviously, you want to come out on top. I feel like we could honestly have won four games here. We just weren’t able to.”
The Twins couldn’t draw it up any better than their chance in the 10th inning. After Cleveland’s bullpen retired 14 straight hitters starting in the fifth inning, the Twins finally had an opportunity when Eli Morgan hit Wallner with the first pitch of the 10th inning.
Willi Castro then bunted Wallner and inherited runner Kyle Farmer into scoring position and Manny Margot walked to load the bases for Correa.
Batting in the same exact spot the night before, Correa singled to center to briefly give the Twins a lead before Cleveland rallied for a 5-4 victory. But this time, Correa popped out on the second pitch he saw. Morgan then escaped the jam unscathed as Byron Buxton flew out to medium right and the Twins were staring down defeat once again.
“It can be excruciating at times,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a great opportunity to win the game. I want to be in that spot. … When we have those opportunities, we have to come through.”
While the Twins repeatedly failed to produce the big hit for most of the series, Cleveland came through when it mattered.
Thielbar struck out Josh Naylor to start the bottom of the 10th inning and then intentionally walked Lane Thomas. After working a full count to Gimènez, Thielbar was forced to come inside with a fastball. And just like that, what on Aug. 17 was a 10 1/2-game advantage over Detroit had vanished into thin air.
Now, the Twins head to Boston with their costumes packed away. Meanwhile, Detroit opens a three-game series at Baltimore on Friday. The Twins hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
“We’ve got to go win baseball games,” said catcher Ryan Jeffers said of the three-game set at Fenway Park. “It’s as simple as that. We said the same thing about these games and we didn’t do it. We’ve got to turn the page to Boston and just try to win those games. That’s all we can do at this point is go out there and try and win those games. It doesn’t matter how we win. … But we’ve got to be able to score the extra run, close out the inning, whatever it takes.”
A lack of runs was the Twins’ biggest issue throughout the Cleveland series, especially on a day when the club needed an overwhelming response following Wednesday’s late loss.
With Detroit having nearly chased them down after completing a sweep in Kansas City, the Twins put forth their best lineup Thursday. But Cleveland rookie Joey Cantillo used a three-pitch mix to keep the Twins tied up in the early going.
Cantillo worked around a one-out walk of Correa in the first inning and a leadoff single by Royce Lewis in the second as if they were nothing. Cantillo also picked up his defense in the third inning, immediately erasing a Brayan Rocchio error with a double-play ball.
The Twins finally broke through against Cantillo in the fifth inning, taking advantage of Farmer’s leadoff double. After Cantillo walked Castro with one out, Margot doubled in two runs to give the Twins a 2-1 lead, the second runner scoring on Lane Thomas’ fielding error.
But the Twins failed to create more breathing room, once again felled by the Guardians’ bullpen. Nick Sandlin took over for Cantillo with one out in the fifth and walked Correa before striking out Buxton and Carlos Santana to end the inning.
Sandlin, Tim Herrin, Andrew Walters, Hunter Gaddis and Emmanuel Clase then shut it down, combining to retire 14 straight Twins, including eight on strikeouts.
“By a lot of measures, they have the best bullpen this year in the history of baseball,” Baldelli said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t go out there and drive some runs in and win a game. … They do that in most games that they’ve pitched in this year. But you have to come up big.”
Despite once again pitching with diminished stuff, Simeon Woods Richardson stepped up to deliver his best start in a month for the Twins.
Though the average velocity of the right-hander’s fastball and changeup were both again down about 2 mph from his season average, Woods Richardson effectively worked around traffic and generated swings-and-misses.
The rookie’s day didn’t appear to be going well early when Cleveland’s Kyle Manzardo belted a first-inning changeup for a solo homer only two batters into the game. But Woods Richardson wouldn’t falter again, dispatching José Ramírez and Josh Naylor to end the first inning.
He worked around two singles in the second, induced an inning-ending double play in the third, and worked around a double in the fourth. He struck out two batters in the second and fourth innings and ended his day with a called strikeout against Angel Martínez in the fifth after issuing a leadoff walk two batters earlier.
Woods Richardson struck out six and allowed a run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The Twins’ bullpen then did its part to keep the team in a position to win. Cole Irvin followed Woods Richardson and somehow only surrendered the tying run despite yielding four soft-hit singles.
Cole Sands, Louie Varland and Griffin Jax each posted scoreless innings to keep the game tied at 2. But once again, the Twins walked off the field thinking about what they couldn’t complete.
“They showed why they’re the better team,” Jeffers said. “Why they’ve been better this year is they’re able to finish those games out, the games that we haven’t been able to, from both sides. Not just the pitching side, but from adding the extra run when they need it. All of the above. … We’ve got to do more to win baseball games.”
(Top photo of Carlos Correa: Nick Cammett / Associated Press)
