Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins played some of their worst baseball of the season on Wednesday afternoon. Sloppy defense, bad pitch location, and little to no offense resulted in another 13-1 blowout loss on the season, bringing them to 51-57 the day before the trade deadline.
The frustrations manifested on the field during a bizarre ninth inning, where Willi Castro exited early, fueling speculation about whether the Twins had traded him. Castro and Baldelli confirmed he wasn’t on the move. Given the score was 8-1, Red Sox, Baldelli wanted to give his utility man some extra rest.
“A lot of thoughts go through your mind after you get taken out of the game,” said Castro. “But I haven’t heard anything yet, so I don’t know.”
Then Griffin Jax was on the mound and gave up three straight hits and allowed a run to score, exiting the game without even getting an out. As Baldelli came to remove him, Jax let his frustrations get the better of him and visibly showed it on the mound.
“It was just a moment of emotion,” said Jax. “I mean, I think I let what was going on around me build up a little bit too much. I was just in compete mode. I felt that I wanted the chance to go get those outs because those are my runs out there.”
Kody Clemens came onto the mound to replace Jax, allowing home runs to Romy Gonzalez and Masataka Yoshida to complete the 13-1 loss. After the game, Jax and Baldelli met in his office to discuss what had happened in that moment.
“I think we left the conversation on the same general terms and found some – I don’t know if it’s common ground, but we understand what we’re talking about here,” said Baldelli. “He wants to stay in the game. I don’t blame him for wanting to stay in the game. That’s where he lives. He lives in those spots, and that’s what I want him to be ready to pitch in.”
“I shouldn’t act that way on the mound when he’s coming to take the ball from me,” Jax said. “It’s just one of those times where I have to grit my teeth. I understand he’s doing the best he can to take care of me in that situation, which I think ultimately is what he was doing.”
Zebby Matthews showed some upside in his start, but he wasn’t as dominant as he was nowhere near his dominance from his last start on Friday. 4 ⅓ innings, allowing eight hits, five runs, no walks, and striking out four. His ERA rose above 5.00, but his FIP declined, indicating where some of the mistakes occurred behind him on the field.
Ryan Jeffers dropped a strike-three pitch to Masataka Yoshida that should have ended the top of the fourth for Matthews. Then, in the top half of the fifth, Harrison Bader stopped a few feet in front of a base hit from Jarren Duran in center that could have been caught, and bobbled the ball on the pick-up play.
“That’s a baseball play,” said Matthews. “I threw a ball in the dirt with two strikes, got the strikeout. It sucks that it happened that way, but we were able to work out of the inning. I was able to work around that. As much as it sucks, he’s hard on himself, and he’s a good leader.”
The clubhouse was almost awkwardly silent after the game. The trade rumors and speculation hung over the room like a dark cloud. Players don’t want to be moved, but they knew there could be several new faces in the clubhouse when they play their next game in Cleveland.
“I’ve been having a lot of conversations with players and trying to keep them focused and the things they can control in the daily work we do here to go out and try to win games,” said Carlos Correa, whose name joined the trade rumors on Wednesday.
“Whatever happens happens. That’s the front office’s job, and it’s not an easy job. You let them figure out that part, and we figure out the baseball part. You deal with whatever happens after that.”
