May 18, 2024, 12:35 am ET
CLEVELAND — Coming off a one-run loss, Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli was having a hard time processing what had just happened to his club.
This one was tough for the Twins.
“Some things happened today,” Baldelli said.
Several questionable pitching decisions and a confusing rules violation tripped up the Twins, who lost their fourth straight game Friday night, 3-2, when the Cleveland Guardians got an eighth-inning home run by José Ramírez after after Minnesota reliever Jhoan Durán was pressured by home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz.
Baldelli meant no disrespect to Ramírez, whom he described as a “great player.” But he was upset that Ortiz had put Cleveland’s star third baseman in a favorable situation by calling two balls that were strikes.
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“We can say they are close pitches,” Baldelli said. “They’re strikes. Am I wrong about that based on whatever target we have to look at? Those things happen in the game, but that’s why he has to throw a pitch in the zone because he’s behind in the count.”
Ramirez’s home run came shortly after Twins center fielder Willi Castro was called out in the top of the inning on a boundary pitch. Then, in the ninth, Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa struck out on a low pitch.
Earlier, Correa, who was taunted with “cheater” chants by Cleveland fans who won’t forget his days in Houston, was penalized for a rare on-call violation.
As for the strikeout, Correa diplomatically said umpires could be outmatched behind the plate.
“I feel like the pitchers are too ugly right now for the umpires to see,” he said. “I feel like if the referees knew what was coming and had a Pitchcom (communication device) they would make much better decisions.
“It’s really hard for them to just be able to call pitches, especially the way catchers frame these days. If they had a device where it said slider and they were anticipating the slider and knew where it had to start and land for it. If it was a strike , then we would receive so many calls.
“But the fact that they’re there blind is really difficult. I just think their job is too hard for me to be hard on them. Sometimes I get calls, sometimes I don’t and you move on.”
In the sixth inning, Correa was penalized for the first at-bat infraction in the majors this season.
Playing behind second base, Correa ran to his left and fielded a Ramírez grounder before throwing it out. However, the Guardians disputed that Correa had been transferred illegally and won a lengthy retrial, giving Ramírez new life.
Correa said he has been lining up in the same spot since the rules were changed last season.
“I’ve always played like that. For me, that’s what was in the rule book and it wasn’t, so today I learned something new,” he said, smiling. “Baseball is beautiful.”
Baldelli was bothered that the referees took several minutes to decide a play that seemed inconclusive.
“Everything we do in the replay has to be final,” he said. “The people in charge have to be able to look at it and say, that’s final. I was surprised that we ended up with a final decision on that. Replay is supposed to be when we get the right decisions and they’re final. and we’re confident in them.”
Baldelli acknowledged that the Twins could have done more to help themselves, but other forces worked against them.
“There are some guys who are upset in the room and I’m not happy with that either,” he said. “That’s hard to accept.”
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