Twins lose to Tigers 8-2 after Carlos Correa leaves because of oblique injury

DETROIT – The Twins offense was completely neutralized again Friday, inning after inning of little but strikeouts and weakly hit balls. Their ace pitcher was uncharacteristically cuffed around, too, surrendering five runs in four innings.

Yet those depressing events weren’t even remotely the worst part of the Tigers’ 8-2 rout at windy Comerica Park.

Carlos Correa suffered a strained right oblique during the first three innings, perhaps on a checked swing, innocuously enough. The Twins shortstop left the game, taken for an MRI and potentially set to be added to the Twins’ book-length injured list.

“It’s sad,” Pablo López said shortly after the shortest start of his Twins’ tenure . He invoked the loss of Royce Lewis on Opening Day, too. “You never want to see anyone get an injury, and of course when it’s two of the core guys — they show up every day wanting to get better, wanting to make everyone better to win games. A lot of people, they don’t seek to lead, but the opportunity comes and they rise to the occasion. We’re definitely missing Royce and we’re going to miss Carlos, but next man up.”

Correa seemed to flinch as he checked his swing during his third-inning at-bat, a little-noticed play with substantial effects. Once Tigers starter Tarik Skubal finished him off with a called third strike, the Twins’ highest-paid player clutched his side as he walked toward the dugout. Manager Rocco Baldelli met him at the top of the steps, and immediately replaced him with Willi Castro.

After the game, Baldelli held a 20-minute phone call with the Twins front office, plotting what to do now, especially with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday. The Twins made no decisions, Baldelli said, but “to be honest, I don’t anticipate him being able to play with this. I would anticipate an IL stint.”

The loss of Lewis and now Correa is going to be a challenge to navigate, Baldelli conceded.

“It’s certainly not the easiest road. We’re going to have to have guys step up and fill voids. I don’t mean just fill voids, but excel in these voids. We’re going to turn to a lot of different people,” Baldelli said. “It doesn’t feel good right now. It feels kind of like crap at the moment, but what are we going to do about it? We’re going to show up and work hard.”

They’ve done it before, pointed out Byron Buxton.

“It’s tough. It’s tough. Obviously, they play big roles on the team, so it’s about making sure we’ve got their back through these tough times,” the center fielder said. “It’s like a gut punch, especially when we have the injury history we have. The only thing we want to do is play and help this team win. Just got to keep our heads high and keep picking him up.”

The game, which started 65 minutes late because of rain, didn’t offer much help in lifting their spirits. The Twins have failed to score more than three runs in six consecutive games, going 1-5, and this time, they never managed to advance a runner to third base until they trailed 7-0. They managed to foil the shutout in the ninth inning, on doubles by Ryan Jeffers and Kyle Farmer and a single by Edouard Julien, but it did little to change the mood.

Especially since López couldn’t get ahead of hitters.

“They had it very big on the [score]board — first pitch strikes, and I was below 50 percent, which means I was not doing my job,” López said. “I was not doing what I’m supposed to do, which is get ahead, give myself options, try to force them to swing the bat early. I was missing a lot.”

BOXSCORE: Detroit 8, Twins 2

Mark Canha took advantage by clobbering a high-and-inside sinker into the Twins’ bullpen in the first inning. A walk and a single turned into a fourth-inning run when Castro’s throw pulled Carlos Santana off first base, an error that allowed Spencer Torkelson to score.

And López didn’t record an out in the fifth inning, with a pair of walks, Riley Greene’s double and Torkelson’s broken-base single chasing him after 93 pitches. Kody Funderburk relieved López and struck out three consecutive Tigers, but not before Carpenter blooped a single into right field, scoring a fifth run charged to López.

“It’s hard to get major-league hitters out when you’re not ahead, and he didn’t get ahead today like he normally does,” Baldelli said. “I’m sure he’ll be better than that next time out. But today, that was a tough part of this game.”

One of many, actually.