Louie Varland’s ugly fourth inning epitomizes Twins’ struggles in 9-4 loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Louie Varland dropped his head, took a few steps in front of the mound, then turned to watch Yandy Díaz’s two-run homer clear the center field wall in the fourth inning Wednesday.

As the home run sirens blared at Tropicana Field and Díaz completed his trot around the base paths, Varland didn’t hide his frustration. He shouted as he walked back to the mound after the Twins imploded in an eight-run fourth inning during a 9-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

When manager Rocco Baldelli made a pitching change, Varland covered his face with his glove and shouted again as he trudged toward the dugout.

“A lot happened, and I could’ve pitched a lot better,” Varland said.

The eight runs Varland allowed in 2⅓ innings were a career high. Six straight batters reached base while the Twins committed two errors. The infield made two throws to the plate and neither turned into an out.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re playing any good, to be honest,” Baldelli said. “It feels like we’re playing parts of baseball games.”

Varland, who entered behind one-inning opener Ronny Henriquez, retired his first six batters before the Twins self-destructed in the fourth inning. It started when Brandon Lowe lined a single to center that short-hopped center fielder Willi Castro, and a four-pitch walk to Junior Caminero.

After a flyout to center put runners on the corners with one out, Varland made two pickoff attempts to first base with a full count. The second pickoff attempt bounced past first baseman Carlos Santana, allowing Lowe to score on the error and Caminero to advance to third.

On the next pitch, Varland induced a ground ball to shortstop Brooks Lee, who bobbled the ball and made an off-balance throw to the plate that was high and dropped by catcher Christian Vázquez.

“We need to make the plays,” Vázquez said. “That’s all, you know. That’s the only way we get out of trouble, making plays and getting better at that.”

Dylan Carlson extended the Rays’ rally with a bunt single, and José Caballero grounded an RBI single through the left side of the infield on a two-strike curveball that caught too much of the plate.

With runners on the corners again, Varland induced another ground ball. Royce Lewis, making his first career start at second base, threw to the plate in a three-run game and Vázquez failed to secure the ball after it bounced about a foot in front of him. Caballero and Ben Rortvedt both took an extra base when Vázquez chased after the ball.

“I think when a player makes a mistake, he learns,” Santana said. “I’ll keep talking to the younger guys. Especially with Lewis, he’s at a new position at second base. His whole career, he’s played third base. It’s new for him, so I try to keep saying, ‘Hey, that happens. Keep working hard.’”

Varland was knocked out of the game after Taylor Walls hit a first-pitch fastball to center for a two-run single, and Díaz homered on a down-the-middle sinker in a 2-0 count.

As much as the Twins are dealing with injuries, missing Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa from their lineup, and an inexperienced pitching staff, sloppy defense has been costly. The Twins have lost 11 of their last 16 games, though they’ve maintained a 4½-game buffer on a playoff spot in the wild-card race.

“We haven’t played great,” Baldelli said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve played actually pretty well in there and it came unraveled quickly. That is frustrating, and it’s not lost upon us. It’s not like no one in there knows that we’ve had some games like that. But over 16 games, you’re going to have stretches where you do not play your best. It’s how you handle it.”

The Twins scored four runs in the seventh inning. Kyle Farmer opened with a solo homer in his lone at-bat off the bench, and Santana followed three batters later with a two-run homer. It was Santana’s 20th home run of the season, tying him for the team lead.