There were Twins' highlights, but sloppy play leads to 7-2 loss vs. Tampa Bay

New York Times

27-05-2025

TAMPA, Fla. — One poorly executed pitch made all the difference on Monday night.
Along with a Twins offense that struggled to hit again. And a rough defensive inning from Trevor Larnach.
The combination of the three events, which were set off when Brock Stewart hung a slider to Jonathan Aranda, led to a 7-2 Twins loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Steinbrenner Field. Stewart yielded a three-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning and Kody Funderburk allowed another round-tripper during a four-run, eighth-inning rally Tampa Bay used to pull away.
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Carlos Correa's two-run home run and another strong showing from Chris Paddack were the only highlights of the Twins' sloppiest game in more than three weeks.
'Just terribly executed,' said Stewart. 'That's usually what happens when you leave it there. … That was the difference in the game.'
Stewart's hanging 1-2 sweeper to Aranda certainly marked the turning point in Monday's contest.
AranDUHHH pic.twitter.com/6pFCCmGWMt
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2025
But it was hardly the only Twins misfire of the evening.
Aside from Correa's blast, the Twins' bats were quiet. An offense hoping to get Byron Buxton and Matt Wallner back from injury during this 10-game trip scored three runs or fewer for the fourth time in six games.
Batting with runners on the corners and one out in the third, Ryan Jeffers grounded into an inning-ending double play, and ex-Twins pitcher Zack Littell used it as fuel to propel him into the seventh inning.
Littell surrendered some hard contact, but each of the Twins' three hardest-hit balls, all of which carried a .550 or better expected batting average, found gloves. Beyond those, the Twins generated minimal energy against Littell, who sat down the side in order in four of his six full innings pitched.
'Not our best offensive effort,' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. 'We need to do more than what we did. … Playing a tight ballgame, when you grab that lead, two or three runs at that point, it tilts the game in one direction. Those are important moments. They grabbed the game with a big swing, and the game went from there.'
The poor showing left Paddack in a spot where one mistake could swing the game. Still, he was outstanding and efficient once again.
Paddack retired nine straight batters between the first and fourth innings. He limited the Rays to three singles and kept the contest scoreless into the sixth.
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Tampa Bay finally chased Paddack in the sixth with a one-out single by Brandon Lowe and a double from Junior Caminero, ahead of Stewart surrendering the homer.
Correa appeared to rejuvenate the Twins in the seventh. Trailing by three runs, Correa ripped a 1-0 fastball from Garrett Cleavinger for a two-run homer.
Carlos Correa – Minnesota Twins (4) pic.twitter.com/tKToJiGGn8
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 27, 2025
But the Twins got no closer, and then the bottom fell out.
Reliever Kody Funderburk entered with one out in the eighth inning and surrendered two singles. Funderburk then recorded a second out and appeared to escape the jam when José Caballero hit another, albeit deeper, drive to left.
Larnach looked as if he had a read on the play, but said his initial jump off the bat left him out of sorts. As he approached the left-field fence, Larnach jumped and whiffed on Caballero's fly ball, which fell in for a crushing two-run double. Danny Jansen followed with a two-run homer off Funderburk to put the contest out of reach.
'On the initial hit, I (took) the wrong jump, and then I had to reroute myself,' Larnach said. 'You're not necessarily carrying to the ball. Instead of being there, you're drifting. And then when I hear the track, I gave myself a few steps and I jumped. I think the combination of those two things didn't put me in a good spot. And I completely own that. But it's baseball, man. It happens. You obviously don't want it to happen. That's on me, that entire inning.'
What the Cab? What the Cabby? What the Caballero? pic.twitter.com/euUawKCFQF
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2025
Between Larnach and Funderburk, the Twins produced an inning unlike most they've recently played. When the team's 13-game winning streak ended in Milwaukee on May 18, Baldelli described the two weeks as one of the best he'd witnessed in more than 20 seasons in professional baseball.
While the Twins lost twice more in five games at home in the week since, they didn't stray much from their successful formula. From outstanding starting pitching to stout relief efforts and timely hitting, the Twins continued to play good, tight games.
But for the first time since a disastrous eighth inning in Boston on May 2, the Twins collapsed on Monday.
'I don't think we were that far off, but we needed a little more,' Baldelli said.
(Photo of Chris Paddack: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)