The Twins loaded the bases with no outs both early and late Tuesday night at Target Field and still did no better than a 3-1 loss to Cleveland.
Twins waste opportunities in 3-1 loss to Cleveland
Starter Bailey Ober gave up only two earned runs in six innings, but that was enough as five Cleveland pitchers limited the Twins to four hits.
August 18, 2021 at 5:33AM
In between those second-inning and eighth-inning opportunities lost, they expertly executed a sixth-inning sacrifice double play from 403 feet in center field that gave the visitors a final insurance run they never needed after taking a 3-0 lead.
The Twins loaded the bases once against rookie Eli Morgan, making his 11th major league start, and once against reliever Trevor Stephan. The Twins' only run — after scoring 12 against defending AL champion Tampa Bay on Saturday — was pinch runner Nick Gordon racing home on Jorge Polanco's force-out grounder for the eighth inning's first out after Stephan walked the first three batters he faced.
"We didn't hit a ball and find a patch of grass," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We had some guys in scoring position. We just didn't take advantage."
Baldelli left the ballpark lamenting his team's luck and praising 6-9 rookie pitcher Bailey Ober's six innings pitched, the longest start of his career.
Ober struck out three, didn't walk a soul and allowed five hits, three runs (two earned) and Daniel Johnson's fifth-inning, two-run homer with one out that was all Cleveland needed.
"Ultimately, it was a good outing," Baldelli said. "He battled really well. Overall, a very good outing. The efficiency was impressive, especially for a guy that pitches kind of north-south-ish, above the zone a lot of the times. Normally, you don't see those guys pitch efficiently. It's hard to do. For him to do that, it is impressive and he does it in a few different ways."
Ober complimented his slider but said, "I didn't have the location I wanted." He took advantage of aggressive Cleveland batters who he said "were coming out swinging."
"I'm feeling really good right now," Ober said. "Body's feeling great. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing."
The loss ended the Twins' three-game win streak and they lost for only the fourth time in their past 12 games. Until Tuesday, an 8-3 record in their past 11 games tied the Yankees for the American League's best record since Aug. 5.
They had won three consecutive series against all three American League division-leading teams. They started by winning three of four in Houston and then two of three from both the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay at Target Field. And Polanco had produced consecutive walkoff plate appearances against the Rays on Sunday and the Indians on Monday.
On Tuesday, they had their chances.
Josh Donaldson, Luis Arraez and Mitch Garver all got on base to start the second inning. But Miguel Sano struck out swinging and Rob Refsnyder's first-pitch, check swing went right back to Morgan, who started a pitcher-to-catcher-to-first base double play that ended the inning.
"I'll say this: As a whole, I don't think our at-bats [Tuesday] were that much different than a lot of games where we score four, five, six runs," Baldelli said. "We hit some good balls. We found ways to get on. We made them work at different points. We just needed that hit."
The only scoring hit they got was Polanco's eighth-inning grounder to second base that forced out Jake Cave there but scored Gordon.
In between, the Twins turned that unlikely double play in the sixth inning.
Refsnyder leapt high against the center field fence, snagging Cleveland catcher Wilson Ramos' blast that appeared headed for a home-run and a 5-0 lead. Refsnyder turned and fired to Polanco in short right field. Polanco himself turned and threw to first baseman Sano to double up Jose Ramirez at first.
It wasn't enough for a team that couldn't get what Baldelli called "that hit."
"It is the difference a lot of the times between winning and losing a ballgame," Baldelli said. "We did have the opportunities [Tuesday]."
Gerrit Cole gave up his opt-out right on Monday and will remain with the New York Yankees under a contract that runs through 2028 rather than become a free agent.
