Managers overmanaging: Toronto's John Schneider gets it wrong; Twins' Rocco Baldelli slides by

While the Twins celebrated on the field following the final out of their 2-0 victory over Toronto, Blue Jays starter José Berríos, who pitched his guts out on Wednesday, watched with his chin rested on top of the rail in front of the visitor's dugout.

The former Twin looked like he was watching a friend leave for a journey he wanted to join in on. And the Twins were, as they are headed for Houston for the start of the American League Division Series on Saturday.

Berríos was a casualty of the overmanaging battle between Toronto skipper John Schneider and the Twins' Rocco Baldelli in the fourth inning that wound up going the Twins' way.

It was Schneider who triggered the war of the wits when Royce Lewis led off the fourth with a walk. Berríos, dealt to Toronto by the Twins before the trade deadline in 2021, had sailed through the lineup. In three innings, he shut out the Twins on three hits and a walk while striking out five. That included retiring lefthanded hitters Max Kepler and Alex Kirilloff, who grounded out and struck out, respectively, in their first plate appearances. Berríos had thrown 47 pitches, most of them nasty.

"Was probably the best stuff he's had all year," Schneider said.

Here's where postseason managing has become maddening — moves that normally wouldn't take place until the seventh inning now happen at the first sign of trouble or once a pitcher goes two times through the order. Baldelli himself has sent pinch hitters to the plate as early as the second inning after the opponent's "opener" has completed a stint.

Berríos' domination of the Twins didn't matter to Schneider, who had to prove he was serious about emptying his bench and bullpen in an elimination game. With the K & K boys due up again in the fourth, Schneider went to the mound and replaced Berríos with lefthander Yusei Kikuchi, who throws plenty of sliders.

It was now Rocco's turn to annoy the baseball purists. He did allow Kepler to bat, and he reached on an infield single. But Donovan Solano was brought in for Kirilloff, whose day was over after one at-bat. Solano drew a walk, making Baldelli look like a genius.

But Schneider replacing Berríos when he's in form? Worst pull ever.

Now the bases were loaded. Carlos Correa singled to center, allowing Lewis to score the first run of the game. Yes, the guy with the bad foot drove in the guy with the bad hamstring. Rocco wasn't done. Willi Castro batted for Matt Wallner and hit into a double play, yet Kepler scored to put the Twins ahead 2-0. That's two runs on two hits, two walks, two pinch-hitters and one reliever. It wasn't the fifth inning yet.

"We had a few different plans in place. José was aware of it. He had electric stuff. Tough to take him out. But I think with the way they're constructed, you want to utilize your whole roster," Schneider said, referring to his team's pre-scripted plans for activating the bullpen. "It didn't work out."

Just because you have an entire roster to save the day doesn't mean you have to use it. And Schneider's comment suggests that the Blue Jays' statistics department had input.

The eye test should matter. Front office decisions are driven by collaboration more than ever, but one person has veto power if it feels like the right thing to do.

That's the manager. Or it should be.

Berríos was dealing. Schneider could have lit his report on fire and left Berríos in.

Baldelli could have given Kirilloff and Wallner a shot against Kikuchi in hopes one of them came through. Rocco had a stronger algorithm on Wednesday.

"So you can sit here and second-guess me, second-guess the organization, second-guess anybody," Schneider said. "I get that."

The Twins accepted the gift on behalf of the Blue Jays pitching academy. The Twins are moving on. And Berríos was left to wonder what could have been.