LOS ANGELES — In a town never lacking in entertainment options, the Twins and Dodgers put on a heck of a show for the announced crowd of 49,749 fans on Monday night at Chavez Ravine.
There was a little bit of everything — clutch hits, late-inning heroics, blown calls — but in the end, it was a bases-loaded walk that spelled the end of perhaps the Twins’ most compelling game of the season thus far.
The Twins, rather than face former MVP Freeman or Max Muncy, who had homered twice already in the game, decided to intentionally walk the pair, setting up a bases loaded — Chris Taylor, the automatic runner was already on — matchup with outfielder Trayce Thompson, hitless since April 17.
But their preferred matchup didn’t give them the ending they were seeking. After getting ahead 1-2, Jorge López threw three straight balls, walking in the game-winning run in the Dodgers’ 12-inning 9-8 win over the Twins on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
“Bases loaded, tried to throw a strike right here. Missed. Two really good pitches, get ahead,” López said. “They just got a little lucky. I feel like that. I was feeling really good.”
That wasn’t the only time the Twins (23-19) believe the Dodgers (27-19) had a little bit of luck on their side on Monday. A couple pitches that were called on Alex Kirilloff during a bases-loaded at-bat in the 10th inning come to mind, as does a ball that David Peralta hit off Griffin Jax in the eighth inning.
That play came after Trevor Larnach had smashed a three-run home run in the top of the inning to tie the game, bringing the Twins back in a game they had trailed since the first when starter Pablo López surrendered a pair of home runs.
After Jax collected a pair of outs, he gave up a double to Miguel Vargas. It was immediately followed by a ball that Peralta hit down the right field line. Vargas scored on the play, which Twins were adamant was a foul ball.
“It was foul. It was foul. Clearly. Way foul,” catcher Christian Vázquez said. “It’s tough.”
The play was unreviewable because it happened right in front of first base umpire Shane Livensparger and so the Twins had to live with the call, unable to do anything about it.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that’s the only play in the game that mattered, but when the play that leads to them getting a late run is just foul at every point basically along the way after the first bounce — I mean it’s a big reason why we lost the game because they were awarded a double on a ball that was not close to being fair,” Baldelli said.
They didn’t capitalize on all of their opportunities, either, particularly in that 10th inning after they had, thanks to a Byron Buxton double, had tied the game up in the ninth to force extras.
The Twins got one run out of their bases-loaded, no out opportunity, reliever Phil Bickford missing on four straight pitches to catcher Christian Vázquez. But they were unable to mount their third comeback of the night to seal a win in a game that Baldelli described as “frustrating,” and “tough to swallow.”
“There was a lot of baseball out there,” Baldelli said. “We had other opportunities to separate and find ways to win the game on top of the things that we were able to do, but late in the game when you’re just given a double on a ball that’s foul, I mean that bothers you.”
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May 16, 2023 at 02:18PM
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After two late comebacks, Twins lose “frustrating” game to Dodgers - St. Paul Pioneer Press
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