Failed double steal runs Twins out of first inning vs. Blue Jays

TORONTO – Twins manager Rocco Baldelli must have had an inkling that Friday night’s game at Rogers Centre would be low-scoring, because he called for an unusual steal of home in the first inning that instead wound up killing a rally.

After three consecutive one-out singles resulted in a run against Toronto lefthander Yusei Kikuchi, Manuel Margot flew out to leave Willi Castro at third and Jose Miranda at first.

With Carlos Santana batting, Miranda headed for second base. But he stopped halfway there as Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen threw to the base.

As Jansen released the ball, Castro broke for home. But Blue Jays second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s return throw easily beat Castro, who was tagged out by Jansen to end the inning.

“If we executed it the way we have several times, we are safe,” Baldelli said after the Twins won 3-2. “We didn’t do as good of a job as we could have on that play.”

The Twins challenged the call, asserting that Jansen illegally blocked home plate before he received the ball, but the challenge was dismissed by the replay umpire. Baldelli said he still believes that the call should have been reversed.

“I can’t say, as I sit here right now, that I fully understand the rule” and how umpires interpret it, Baldelli said. “I think it was pretty straightforward that it could have been blocking.”