MINNEAPOLIS – There was turbulence in the sky for the Red Sox on a flight to Minneapolis on getaway Sunday that many in the traveling party called the choppiest flight they’d ever been on.
Just when it seemed things had calmed down and a victory was just three outs away, Mother Nature made its presence felt again.
In possession of a 4-3 lead, Jordan Hicks came out of the bullpen ready to slam the door shut. But with hard rain in the imminent forecast, the tarp was placed onto the field before Hicks could step on the mound. By the time he finally got to pitch – following a delay of 90 minutes – it wasn’t good.
Understandably without command due to the unique circumstances, Hicks allowed a leadoff single and then hit two consecutive batters before serving up a walk-off two-run single off the bat of Brooks Lee to cap a 5-4 victory for the Twins.
“I mean, a long day in general,” Hicks said. “But obviously I got fully hot [before the delay] and ran on the field and felt really good to go. Then they pulled the tarp, I came back in, sat for an hour, got hot again, and didn’t really have my legs and didn’t know where the zone was.”
It was a tough spot for Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who would have preferred not to put Hicks in that situation.
But closer Aroldis Chapman was unavailable due to back tightness, and Garrett Whitlock was ill due to the rough flight.
Chris Murphy, Jorge Alcala, Brennan Bernardino and Greg Weissert had already pitched in the game. Lefty Justin Wilson had pitched the previous two days and was also unavailable.
“[Hicks] was the last guy that was available. That was uncomfortable in the sense that he got hot, and you had to wait all that time and get hot again,” said Cora. “It’s not easy to do. He tried his best, but it just didn’t work out.”
Not being able to pitch after the first warmup was a tough pill for Hicks to swallow.
“I was just [ticked] off, to be honest,” Hicks said.
As Hicks seethed, the Twins used the rain delay to their advantage, simulating Hicks on the Trajekt machine in the batting cage.
There was speculation the game would be suspended until Tuesday given the forecast.
“Pretty sure I heard [it was] probably going to get banged a few times, but [it] didn’t end up getting banged,” Hicks said. “It was a weird delay. Kind of poured on us, then cleared up.
“It is what it is. I didn’t get the job done and I feel like I let the team down, but I know they’ll come to battle tomorrow.”
There was plenty of battle in the Red Sox before the delay.
Down 2-0, Alex Bregman came through with his latest big hit, a three-run go-ahead rocket to center in the fifth.
While the 21-year-old Roman Anthony has years to go before he reaches Bregman’s veteran status, his composure in big situations is already notable.
With the game tied at 3 in the top of the ninth, Anthony fought off a 101 mph fastball on the inner half from Twins closer Jhoan Duran for an RBI single that gave the visitors the lead.
Give an assist to David Hamilton, who set Anthony up by coming off the bench as a pinch-runner and stealing second and third.
“Great at-bat by Roman,” said Cora. “Great baserunning by Hammy; he did a good job getting to second and third. Alex put a good swing on it earlier, so, yeah, good at-bats.”
But as it turned out, just not enough in the pitching department to win.
Starter Richard Fitts lasted just four innings and 58 pitches (34 strikes), putting a toll on an already short-handed bullpen. Fitts will likely be optioned to Triple-A Worcester prior to Tuesday’s game, with the Red Sox getting a fresh arm for the bullpen.
Though starters often fly ahead of the team, Fitts didn’t do so because Sunday’s game at Fenway was played in the afternoon.
“Yeah, we’ve got guys going through [aftereffects],” Fitts said. “I didn’t feel great throughout the game, but it’s just part of it. We’re going to bounce back, and the team is going to feel good tomorrow and we’re going to try to get a win.”
As for what happened late Sunday and Monday, Cora summed it up best.
“Yeah. I mean, there's nothing you can do against Mother Nature,” Cora said.