LOS ANGELES -- With the bases empty and two outs in the ninth, the Twins stood one out away from the kind of win that has the potential to change a season. They had one of the most dominant relievers in baseball on the mound, facing a great but scuffling hitter.
Even from there, Griffin Jax got a two-strike count on Mookie Betts and threw a sweeper just off the edge of the plate. Betts appeared to offer at it, attempting to check his swing but looking for all the world on replays like he did not succeed. Betts got the call, though, and the at-bat continued.
Two pitches later, Betts was on base. Three batters and several more twists and turns after that, the Twins had suffered a dispiriting 4-3 loss to the Dodgers. It was Minnesota’s fourth loss on its six-game road trip, and its sixth straight road series dropped.
By the finest of margins, the Twins now stand four games under .500 with eight days and six games remaining before the Trade Deadline.
“Not the outcome we’re looking for, and today, it’s a hard loss,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “It is a hard loss, but it’s not a hard loss in the sense that I’m disappointed in anything that our players did during the game. Not one thing. I’ll be thinking about it on a managerial note, and from that perspective it’ll be a game I think about for a long time.”
Minnesota had scratched out two tough runs in the top of the eighth to take its first lead of the game. Brock Stewart pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning, but an infield single, a hit batter and an intentional walk nonetheless turned out to be costly, and the first of many turning points over the final stretch of the game. The baserunners meant that the Dodgers were sure to turn their lineup back over in the ninth.
And after Jax got the first two batters, that’s what happened. Betts came up, mired in a lengthy slump but still a hitter to be respected. Jax got ahead of him, 1-2, threw a slider just outside the zone, and Betts appeared to take enough of a cut that the game should’ve been over. The Twins appealed to first base, but to no avail.
“I definitely feel like he went,” Jax said. “I think the replay pretty much shows a clear swing there, but that’s still baseball. Not trying to make an excuse, but definitely feel like that goes my way a majority of the time.”
After Betts fouled off a sweeper, he made weak contact on another, dribbling it to the left side. Willi Castro made a smooth play and a strong throw, but Betts beat out the throw on a very close play, bringing up Shohei Ohtani.
And the Twins decided they weren’t going to let the best player in the game beat them. Baldelli elected to walk Ohtani intentionally, putting the tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on base for the light-hitting Esteury Ruiz. But Jax walked Ruiz, loading the bases.
“For me, the right answer was, ‘We’re going to pitch to Ruiz and go get him,’” Baldelli said, “and we’re going to play to win the game, not going to be afraid. … Jax is one of the best relievers in baseball, so I’m going to bet on Jax to go out there, dial it in and pitch to Ruiz.”
Even then, the Twins still led. And even then, Jax got ahead of the next hitter -- Freddie Freeman -- 0-2 with two perfectly located fastballs. Once again, one pitch away. Jax then threw Freeman a fastball over the plate, and Freeman hit a sinking liner to left field.
Harrison Bader, an exemplary defensive player, made a dive for the ball -- a play that more often than not he makes. But the ball eluded Bader’s grasp, two runs scored and the Twins found themselves on the receiving end of a painful loss.
“You’re going to deal with tough losses,” Baldelli said. “And you’re going to deal with good wins. You’re going to deal with all kinds of stuff in this game. … As we sit here right now, we’re going to pack up, we’re going to get home. We have an off-day to recoup a little bit, get our guys kind of healthy, feeling good, and we’ll be back out there against Washington.”