Marlins 8, Twins 6 (13 Innings): Horrible Situational Hitting Costs Twins Game, Season

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins needed to win. Instead, they lost a home series to the 100-loss Miami Marlins. Their playoff hopes are hanging by the thinnest of threads. 

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: David Festa - 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (72 pitches, 53 strikes (73.6% strikes))
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (14) .
Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (0.566), Jorge Alcala (0.310), Jhoan Duran (0.165) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Ryan Jeffers (-0.468), Royce Lewis (-0.425), Justin Topa (-0.252)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Twins Certainly Knew the Assignment  
The Marlins and Twins played a night game in their series finale at Target Field. Earlier in the day, they watched the Tigers come from behind to beat the Rays, and they saw the Royals score three runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Nationals. 

If the Twins won, they kept those team’s magic numbers at two with three games to play. If the Twins lost, they needed to win all three of their games against the Orioles this weekend and either Kansas City or Detroit to be swept. 

Festa, or Famine
In such a big game, the Twins again turned to one of their rookie starters. For the third time in this series, the Twins fall behind in the top of the first frame. But David Festa worked out of that first inning giving up just one run. He then settled in and was very good in the second and third innings. Then after one out in the top of the fifth inning, Xavier Edwards went with a pitch and singled to left to score a run. Then Jake Burger added an RBI single. 

Caleb Thielbar came in for three batters and then Michael Tonkin came on to get the final out. But the Marlins held a 4-0 lead. 

It's clear Festa's goal was to throw more strikes. He threw 73% strikes in this game. He gave up one walk and had five strikeouts. 

No Offense, but…
The Marlins threw soft-tossing Valente Bellozo to start the game, and he baffled Twins hitters through five innings. He may have topped out at 88 mph, but he kept hitters off balance. Until the bottom of the sixth inning when Carlos Correa was very balanced and crushed a long home run. 

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All Hands on Deck 
We include the bullpen update every day in these game recaps. The purpose is to show fans and readers which pitchers might be available for the next game. Or, more important, who really should not be pitching that day. With that in mind, the Twins are in a must-win situation which means Griffin Jax in the seventh inning. It means Jhoan Duran for the eighth and the ninth innings. It means, despite a bum knee, Cole Sands is called on for the 10th inning. Unfortunately, some bad offensive baseball meant that pretty much the whole bullpen was needed again. 

Buxton’s Speed Gives Twins a Second Run 
Buxton hit a long homer run on Wednesday night. On Thursday, it was his speed that really helped the Twins. With two outs and two runners on base, Buxton hit a standard ground ball to shortstop. Xavier Edwards’ throw to first was strong, but the first baseman had to come off the base to make the catch. (though it took a review to prove it)

Biggest Hit of His Life
With Royce Lewis on third and Carlos Santana on first base and two outs, Brooks Lee came to the plate. It’s no secret Lee has struggled somewhat offensively since he rejoined the Twins after a IL stint. 

He got a pitch to his liking and went down and got it. He barreled it and crushed a line drive high off the wall in right field. It bounced hard and allowed Santana to score all the way from first to tie the game. 

The players were happy and rejoiced. 

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The 10th Inning
In the top of the 10th inning, Cole Sands entered the game. Griffin Conine entered the game as the Manfred Man at second base. A leadoff single pushed Conine to third, and Jonah Bride drove him in with a deep center field fly out. Sands struck out the next two batters, but the Twins had some work to do. 

In the bottom of the inning, Royce Lewis started the inning at second base. Michael Peterson came in for the Marlins. He tried to keep the Twins season alive. Carlos Santana led off with a walk. Brooks Lee followed by showing bunt for four pitches, but all four were balls. So, the Twins had the bases loaded with nobody out. 

Ryan Jeffers popped up to the catcher. But Willi Castro came up and lined a deep fly ball to dead center. Derek Hill, playing shallow due to the situation, had to go a long ways, straight back. He was able to twist and turn and somehow catch the fly ball. Royce Lewis scored the tying run from third base, and Santana and Lee each advanced a base. With two outs, Austin Martin got jammed and grounded out to third base.   

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Onto … 

The 11th Inning
Jorge Alcala came in for the Twins. Derek Hill was the Manfred Man at second base. Alcala got a fly out to right field, short enough that Hill was unable to advance. Johnny Pereda, the backup catcher, making his first at-bat of the game, grounded out to shortstop. Hill remained at second base. A two-out walk to Xavier Edwards brought Brooklyn Park-born Connor Norby to the plate. 

Austin Martin started on second. Anthony Maldonado came on for the Marlins. Byron Buxton led off with a fly out to center. For the second time in the late innings, Carlos Correa was intentionally walked. Trevor Larnach came up and lined a low single to right, just past a diving first baseman. Not wanting to be doubled up, Martin was held at third base. With the bases loaded and one out, Royce Lewis came to the plate for the second time with a chance to win it. The first time, he hit a ball 18 inches. This time, on a 1-2 pitch, he grounded right to the fifth infielder who threw home to get Martin for the second out. Carlos Santana then flew out to center… 

Frustrating!  Some bad baseball! 

12th Inning…
Scott Blewett came on to start the 12th inning with Norby on second base. 

Blewett struck out Griffin Conine to start the inning, but Jesus Sanchez lined a single to right. Inexplicably Norby froze and only got to third base. Blewett won a tough battle with Jonah Bride to strike him out, but Sanchez stole second. Willi Castro made a nice play on a slow roller to third base off the bat of Dane Myers to get the third out.

While Scott Blewett didn’t blow it, check out the Twins bottom of the 12th. With Carlos Santana on second base, the Marlins intentionally walked Brooks Lee. 

Ryan Jeffers was asked to bunt, something he has been quite successful with in the past. Unfortunately this time, he popped the bunt to first base, maybe even lined out to first base it was hit so hard. That’s not the worst part. For whatever reason (obviously wanting to get to third base successfully on a good bunt), Santana got way too far off of second base and was doubled out. Two pitches later, Castro grounded out to end the inning. 

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Entertaining... or? 

That’s just bad baseball.  

13th Inning…
Blewett remained in the game. Myers was the runner at second base. 

The inning started with a strikeout, but Otto Lopez followed with a double, switching places with Myers and giving the Marlins a 6-5 lead. A ground out moved Lopez to third base with two outs. The Twins intentionally walked Xavier Edwards to bring up Norby who was 0-for-6 with five strikeouts coming into the plate appearance. He walked to load the bases. 

Rocco Baldelli turned to Justin Topa with the bases loaded and, as Cory Provus said, "the Twins season hanging in the balance." 

Griffin Conine swung early in the count and came through with a huge, two-run, bloop single to center to give the Marlins the 8-5 lead. The blooper had an exit velocity of just 73 mph, and that just makes a lot of sense for the way things have gone for the Twins of late. 

Other Notes
2-for-19 with Runners in Scoring Position. 15 runners left on base. 

The Twins finished the season with an 18-28 record against the National League in this first season under the new schedule. 

The Twins lost their fourth straight series. That is the first time that has happened all season. The Marlins won their first series in a month. 

Austin Martin wasn't in the original lineup. Jose Miranda was but was removed due to low back pain. Martin went 2-for-6 with a double. 

Carlos Correa went 3-for-5 and was twice intentionally walked. 

What’s Next?
The Twins will hope to keep hope alive on Friday night. At 7:10, Pablo Lopez will take the mound, looking for his 16th win and even more, keeping his team alive. He will face #OldFriend, rookie lefty Cade Povich and the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins don’t have to worry about seeing the top Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes since the O’s spot in the playoffs is set.

Friday (7:10 pm): RHP Pablo Lopez (15-9, 4.11 ERA) vs LHP Cade Povich (2-9, 5.59)
Saturday (6:15 pm): RHP Zebby Matthews (1-3, 5.71) vs RHP Albert Suarez (8-7, 3.74)
Sunday (1:10 pm): RHP Bailey Ober vs RHP Dean Kremer (8-10, 4.10)  

Postgame Interview 
Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart 

 

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[BH67]

Sisyphean, perhaps more so than the original.

And a fitting conclusion to 2024.

[Parfigliano]

Utter S-show.

[NYCTK]

This is the baseball Gods striking down upon the twins for wearing their pants above their knees. 

Not gonna lie, that baserunning by Satana was so bad it was hilarious. I've watched it like 8 times and can't stop laughing. 15 year vet looking like an absolute fool. 

[1985Fan]

Bad baseball played by the Twins. Terrible hitting, as usual. Bases loaded and less than two outs in extra innings and they couldn’t get a run in. How does Jeffers drop the throw from Correa for the force at home to let the fourth run score?! Game shouldn’t have went to extras if he catches the ball. 
Miami tried to give them the game by striking out 20 times and their usual bad defense. Fitting end to the season to lose a series at home to a 100 loss team! 

[Doc Lenz]

Need a Manager that will instill fundamentals, passion and the joy of playing the game. Rocco is not that guy.

[LastOnePicked]

Basically, since the Twins hosted the Yankees in mid-May, I checked out. I didn't follow the Twins even a bit. No box scores, no standings, no Twins Daily, no Gleeman and the Geek, nothing. It's actually surprisingly easy to forget this team exists when you don't make a point to follow them.

On Sunday, I checked back in. Based on a few things I overheard over the summer, my guess was that they were at least in Wild Card contention. And I guess they were, kinda.

Here's what I want to say to those who were here the whole time: I'm sorry. You deserve better. We all deserve better. And if this organizational incompetence is too much for you, if you want to finally break away, it is possible for months at a time, maybe even a whole season. I'm not a betting man, but based on what I've read and seen just this week, the future of this organization is not what one could call bright. This is a slow team with undisciplined young players and very little direction or fire. Sounds like the farm system isn't in great shape, either. 

And while I used to push for a rebuild, I don't think I care enough at this point. I'm just planning on enjoying another Twins-free summer next year. Feel free to join me.

[thelanges5]

This!

 

[S Bart]

Well, I had hoped that there would be some type of turnaround. These constant mistakes and lack of so much more (I can never recall the team leaving SO MANY on base as they have this last month) is beyond belief. For me, it is hard to believe that it will be just status quo as usual after this collapse. There has to be changes and a clear focus for 2025.  Unless this Caribou coffee Twins cap giveaway is a big draw during "FAN APPRECIATION WEEKEND" (obviously, not a great time to hold that event :), the attendance will be quite low.

[CoastiePilot08]

What an absolute disaster. 
 

seriously, what did this fanbase do to deserve this?

[Nashvilletwin]

I’m not sure what’s going to happen first: Rocco is fired or he preemptively resigns. Now he must really know how Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) was feeling before Amanda (Tatum O’Neal) showed up. Either way, he should be gone by Monday afternoon.

Pathetic baseball.  To be honest, I’m really amazed at just how badly this team has played since game 4 in Texas. I mean, they have been plain awful.

Overall fun season. The team more or less kept us interested through 159 games (and I watched/mostly enjoyed 130+ of them).  So the season ended five days early.  That, in and of itself, is not a disaster. However, how poorly the team played at the end is truly disappointing.  It would have been nice to see them play well when things really mattered.

The off-season will have a sour taste until hope springs eternal again with the start of spring training…….

[USAFChief]

It's almost like a manager gets the performance he accepts. 

[Western SD Fan]

This has been the culmination of a total failure of all parties from ownership to the FO to the manager and coaches to the players.  It seems apparent that neither Rocco nor the coaches can reach the young players.  In player interviews, I never hear of Pete Maki, Popkins, Rocco, or any other coach get praise for helping them out with something.  It's been Pablo, Correa, Buxton, Santana that get the kudos from the younger players.  Provided the FO will still be there in the offseason, there will need to be some changes.  If you're not going to change manager or the staff, maybe they need to trade some players as it seems that the message being delivered is not getting through.  I'm glad all these analytics guys don't believe in the RBI as a stat because neither do the players.  Maybe Ron Washington is willing to leave LA for what is supposed to be a better team than what he has to manage in LA.  He will at least teach fundamentals to the infield.  My fear is that we have become a more expensive version of the White Sox.  They had a lot of up-and-coming players and were supposed to be a juggernaut and within two years tied the record for the most losses in a season.

[mikegtc33]

I'm just gonna throw it out there. I think the Twins would have been a better and more together team if Jorge Polanco was still here (yes, he struggled in Seattle). But, betting on Julien was the first of many mistakes just like betting on Kirlloff to stay healthy... or keeping Farmer over Polanco.. signing Santana until he magically picked it up... Margot over Michael A Taylor.. bad decisions all around

I don't think getting rid of Max Kepler is smart either

[Aerodeliria]

I've read some very strange posts in the last couple of weeks, along the lines of 'The Tigers are playing over their heads and will start losing,' and 'KC has a very tough schedule, so that gives the Twins a great chance.' When good players are confident, focused, well-coached on fundamentals and motivated, no mental gymnastics discussing bizarre 'what ifs' should be needed. Good teams like Detroit and KC don't need those things.

[NYCTK]

33 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Basically, since the Twins hosted the Yankees in mid-May, I checked out. I didn't follow the Twins even a bit. No box scores, no standings, no Twins Daily, no Gleeman and the Geek, nothing. It's actually surprisingly easy to forget this team exists when you don't make a point to follow them.

On Sunday, I checked back in. Based on a few things I overheard over the summer, my guess was that they were at least in Wild Card contention. And I guess they were, kinda.

Here's what I want to say to those who were here the whole time: I'm sorry. You deserve better. We all deserve better. And if this organizational incompetence is too much for you, if you want to finally break away, it is possible for months at a time, maybe even a whole season. I'm not a betting man, but based on what I've read and seen just this week, the future of this organization is not what one could call bright. This is a slow team with undisciplined young players and very little direction or fire. Sounds like the farm system isn't in great shape, either. 

And while I used to push for a rebuild, I don't think I care enough at this point. I'm just planning on enjoying another Twins-free summer next year. Feel free to join me.

Why are we loyal to these businesses? It's very interesting to think about, especially in light of the atrocity committed in Oakland today. We're all beholden to billionaires, often evil men, that almost never give a damn about their community, either local or broader fanbase, outside of how much money they can squeeze from it. 

We stay because of the past, because of visiting the games as a child with our father or sister, or whomever. We have deep emotional ties to something that we can't control and doesn't care about us in the least. It's hard to leave it behind. Sometimes it's the only thing tying us to our past selves.  

I think I might finally be done. I'll give it the offseason before I know I guess. Maybe I'll still check in, but not only do I think I'll stop supporting them, I think I'm going to try to convince my dad to as well. Not done with baseball of course. I'll always love baseball. But done with the Pohlads. Done with the Twins. 

Game 163 will forever be one of my greatest memories, but that seems like it was a fluke that quite literally cannot happen again. And I don't think I have the fortitude to wait to see. 

[S Bart]

34 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

I’m not sure what’s going to happen first: Rocco is fired or he preemptively resigns. Now he must really know how Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) was feeling before Amanda (Tatum O’Neal) showed up. Either way, he should be gone by Monday afternoon.

Pathetic baseball.  To be honest, I’m really amazed at just how badly this team has played since game 4 in Texas. I mean, they have been plain awful.

Overall fun season. The team more or less kept us interested through 159 games (and I watched/mostly enjoyed 130+ of them).  So the season ended five days early.  That, in and of itself, is not a disaster. However, how poorly the team played at the end is truly disappointing.  It would have been nice to see them play well when things really mattered.

The off-season will have a sour taste until hope springs eternal again with the start of spring training…….

Ken Rosenthal of THE ATHLETIC states that Rocco will return. The Twins would have to pay his salary if they let him go (paying 2 managers is unlikely). He is not going to resign. His lackadaisical laid-back approach hurt the team and even Correa hinted at it a bit. The collapse is mindboggling. They could realistically end up 4th in their division this year. If so, they will have gone from 1st in 2023 to 4th in 2023. As a big fan, I hope the Team does something dramatic to boost their 2025 season.

[OvertheHill]

At my age I’ve seen a lot of baseball. And I believe that I’ve seen more fundamentally sound amateur teams than what has been playing at Target Field these past few months. The predictably comical and sometimes halfhearted baserunning as well as the utter ineptitude at situational hitting does not reflect a professionally managed team in a multi billion dollar industry. Sad that this is what we get nowadays with this organization. 

[S Bart]

19 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Why are we loyal to these businesses? It's very interesting to think about, especially in light of the atrocity committed in Oakland today. We're all beholden to billionaires, often evil men, that almost never give a damn about their community, either local or broader fanbase, outside of how much money they can squeeze from it. 

We stay because of the past, because of visiting the games as a child with our father or sister, or whomever. We have deep emotional ties to something that we can't control and doesn't care about us in the least. It's hard to leave it behind. Sometimes it's the only thing tying us to our past selves.  

I think I might finally be done. I'll give it the offseason before I know I guess. Maybe I'll still check in, but not only do I think I'll stop supporting them, I think I'm going to try to convince my dad to as well. Not done with baseball of course. I'll always love baseball. But done with the Pohlads. Done with the Twins. 

Game 163 will forever be one of my greatest memories, but that seems like it was a fluke that quite literally cannot happen again. And I don't think I have the fortitude to wait to see. 

Well said. I have been a Twins fan since 1965, but it may be time to switch to the local Padres team where I live. I make an annual trip to see the Twins in MPLS each summer and see them in other locations. If they do nothing to make changes, it may be time to change my allegiance. It will be tough as I saw them in the WS and have a good deal of memorabilia. Right now, I am disgusted. My disappointed started when the young Joe Pohlad stated that they will be not spending money to improve the team last winter which is incredible for an owner to tell the fans. Was it really necessary to make such a public statement? I will wait and see what happens. I need a break as many have stated.

[GNess]

Sad end to a season which held a lot of promise until it didn't.  Total system failure such as this calls for a serious rethink with some big changes in likely a number of facets. (Of course, current ownership has to mandate and lead this change - will they?.)

I live. in the SF Bay Area - things could be much worse - such as they are for fans of the soon to be Sacramento A's.

[Nashvilletwin]

1 hour ago, S Bart said:

Ken Rosenthal of THE ATHLETIC states that Rocco will return. The Twins would have to pay his salary if they let him go (paying 2 managers is unlikely). He is not going to resign. His lackadaisical laid-back approach hurt the team and even Correa hinted at it a bit. The collapse is mindboggling. They could realistically end up 4th in their division this year. If so, they will have gone from 1st in 2023 to 4th in 2023. As a big fan, I hope the Team does something dramatic to boost their 2025 season.

Well, that’s bad news.   The “resign” thing was tongue in cheek, btw; I know he’s not resigning.   

[Mark G]

I don't know.  The fat lady is in her dressing room and getting ready, but I haven't heard her actually sing yet.  If the Twin sweep Baltimore, and Atlanta sweeps KC...........🤔

(I would add if Chicago sweeps Detroit, but I don't want to completely insult your intelligence 🤭)

[Eris]

Lack of situational hitting has been an issue for the Twins all season. In a must win game, they were 2/19 with RISP. 

[UK Twin]

2 hours ago, S Bart said:

Ken Rosenthal of THE ATHLETIC states that Rocco will return. The Twins would have to pay his salary if they let him go (paying 2 managers is unlikely). He is not going to resign. His lackadaisical laid-back approach hurt the team and even Correa hinted at it a bit. The collapse is mindboggling. They could realistically end up 4th in their division this year. If so, they will have gone from 1st in 2023 to 4th in 2023. As a big fan, I hope the Team does something dramatic to boost their 2025 season.

If that is indeed the case then Popkins and Maki have to go. Someone needs to be held accountable for this utter farce. Can't blame the Pohlad's for this collapse (well, not entirely). The coaching and managing has been abysmal. The buck should stop with Baldelli. It's his team, he should be the one to be fired. But there are valid arguments for the dismissal of Popkins and Maki (Popkins in particular) instead. The hitting has been largely abysmal with RISP. While the pitching has also gone backwards, Maki may get a pass due to the sheer number of injuries there. 

Our season was on the line and we lost a home series to Miami. Are you kidding me? That is embarrassing. 

[Mark G]

1 hour ago, UK Twin said:

If that is indeed the case then Popkins and Maki have to go. Someone needs to be held accountable for this utter farce. Can't blame the Pohlad's for this collapse (well, not entirely). The coaching and managing has been abysmal. The buck should stop with Baldelli. It's his team, he should be the one to be fired. But there are valid arguments for the dismissal of Popkins and Maki (Popkins in particular) instead. The hitting has been largely abysmal with RISP. While the pitching has also gone backwards, Maki may get a pass due to the sheer number of injuries there. 

Our season was on the line and we lost a home series to Miami. Are you kidding me? That is embarrassing. 

You are right; the buck has to stop at the office of the manager.  His job is to get the most possible out of the players he is given, and, for the most part, he gets to pick his coaching staff to assist in this job.  That is why the manager is fired before the players are, and before the FO is (usually).  As for the chain of command (someone correct me if I go off the rails here), ownership chooses the operations people we call the FO.  The FO chooses the manager, who chooses his coaching staff.  The on field people are charged with getting the most out of the players they are given.  The operations people are charged with giving the on field people the best possible players to work with.  And ownership is, at least in theory, responsible for giving the operations people the amount of resources necessary to put together the best team they can.  Can any of us say that any of them have lived up to the task they were charged with?  

Ownership didn't give the amount of resources we wanted, but the FO could have done better in putting together the roster.  Once the on field people had the roster, they definitely failed to get the utmost out of them possible.  As such, the on field people need to be replaced to see if it is just that failure, or if the next group can't do any better, which would mean the FO needs to be replaced.  Ownership needs to give the proper resources, but if they are not going to, at least put in place operations people who know how to do more with less than the current group.  

And begin the process NOW.  

[NotAboutWinning]

Watching that game you would never be able to guess which team had a playoff spot on the line! The Marlins were actively trying to win! The huddle at the mound to put on the 5 infielder play showed a team that was intense, playing as a team, and scraping for any advantage they could get. I hear Skip Schumacher will be available 

[Fezig]

5 hours ago, Doc Lenz said:

Need a Manager that will instill fundamentals, passion and the joy of playing the game. Rocco is not that guy.

Joy of playing the game would in turn become joy of watching the game.

[CRF]

This is the season pretty much wrapped up in one sentence:

"2-for-19 with Runners in Scoring Position. 15 runners left on base". 

Absolute, and utter futility. Just another brutal display of baseball by this team. Oh yeah...I'm sure we'll sweep the O's, and Det and KC will also get swept. HILARIOUS!!!!! Start packing the bags guys. 

 

 

[Doctor Wu]

6 hours ago, NYCTK said:

This is the baseball Gods striking down upon the twins for wearing their pants above their knees. 

Not gonna lie, that baserunning by Satana was so bad it was hilarious. I've watched it like 8 times and can't stop laughing. 15 year vet looking like an absolute fool. 

Yeah, that was a bad play, but that so-called bunt was even worse. 

[Doctor Wu]

3 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Well, that’s bad news.   The “resign” thing was tongue in cheek, btw; I know he’s not resigning.   

Could we swap managers and trade Rocco to the Angels for Ron Washington?