Twins takeaways after series loss to Royals: Offense stalls, pulling Ober, rotation picture

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the fourth time in five games, the Twins were forced to contemplate what could have been.

Following a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, Cole Sands and Rocco Baldelli answered questions about the reliever’s inability to preserve a late one-run lead and the manager’s choice to remove his starting pitcher in favor of the back end of the bullpen. Kansas City scored twice off Sands in the seventh inning and held on to clinch victory in the four-game series, a loss which dropped the Twins’ record to 4-9.

Although Sands yielded the runs and Baldelli was asked about pulling Bailey Ober after only 73 pitches, the real culprit was an offense that failed to capitalize on multiple opportunities to add on runs. Stranding runners in scoring position in five of nine innings, including two in the ninth, the Twins finished 1-for-9 in those situations.

“Both teams could’ve come out of here with a sweep,” said catcher Ryan Jeffers, who went 1-for-4 on Thursday with an RBI. “They executed in the bigger situations more than what we did. When it really mattered, they were able to scratch across a run. When it really mattered, they were able to put a zero on the scoreboard.”

Two innings after the Royals pulled ahead 3-2 on a Jonathan India RBI single and a Bobby Witt Jr. sac fly, the Twins found some life with one out in the ninth. Mickey Gaspar singled and Kansas City closer Carlos Estévez hit Harrison Bader to move the tying run into scoring position and turn over the lineup.

But Estévez stiffened, striking out Matt Wallner before Willi Castro grounded out to end the game.

Three innings earlier, the Twins took a one-run lead on Jeffers’ single to center before missing out on extending their advantage. Batting with runners on the corners and one out, Edouard Julien struck out and Jose Miranda grounded out to second against reliever John Schreiber.

Castro popped out with two on to end the fifth inning. Julien was thrown out at the plate in the second after India made a stellar diving stop and threw home ahead of a Bader strikeout.

The Twins even had a chance in the first inning, but Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach grounded out after Castro hit a one-out double.

“Finishing the job in these innings where we’re getting opportunities and getting guys out there is what we need to do,” Baldelli said. “It’s a different ballgame. You push two more runs across, you put the ball in play, have another tough at-bat and drive another run in and we’re right there. It’s an at-bat or two here or there, but we have to turn those in our favor.”

To date, the Twins haven’t really struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. Even with Thursday’s dud, the team’s .761 OPS with RISP ranks eighth in the majors.

But it’s just the latest example in which the Twins haven’t quite put it all together, and it’s starting to add up.

From blowing a six-run lead Sunday to no offense and early defense costing them Monday to Griffin Jax making a costly mistake on Tuesday, the Twins aren’t firing on all cylinders and its cost them winnable games.

Even with the offense struggling Thursday, the Twins could have stolen a win and a much-needed series split.

Ober overcame three first-inning singles to put together a masterful performance. After falling behind 1-0, Ober retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced. He erased a leadoff single with an inning-ending double play in the fifth and also pitched out of a big traffic jam in the sixth, his day ending with Maikel Garcia’s line out to center with two aboard.

With the back end of a bullpen featuring a 2.36 ERA at his disposal, Baldelli opted for relief.

In his postgame press conference, he noted Ober’s command wasn’t as crisp in the sixth inning. The right-hander also hadn’t been up and down more than four times in any of his previous three starts, including the last two after he lost eight pounds because of an illness.

Instead, Baldelli turned to Sands, who entered with a 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Sands recorded an out but then hit Freddy Fermin with a pitch. Drew Waters singled through a shift to put runners on the corners for India, who fouled off four 3-2 pitches before singling to left to tie the score. Witt followed with a go-ahead sac fly to deep center.

“(Ober) pitched us to a great spot,” Baldelli said. “You can turn it over to our bullpen, which I maintain is a good bullpen, guys that can pitch to guys from both sides of the plate. They have all the weapons to get outs. We couldn’t pitch around that hit-by-pitch in the seventh and that run comes around and allows them to get something going. We have to have crisp innings, and we didn’t give ourselves a cushion. … We put a couple of runs on the board, probably should have had a couple more runs and didn’t find a way to do that.”

Here are more Twins takeaways and notes from a disappointing day in Kansas City.

Bailey Ober allowed one run and five hits in six innings. (Denny Medley / Imagn Images)

• This was the starting rotation we expected all along. After seeing Ober, Joe Ryan on Wednesday, Pablo López before his injury Tuesday and even Simeon Woods Richardson battle into the sixth Monday, you understand why FanGraphs projected the Twins to have the fifth-best rotation in MLB.

The group unquestionably is not as strong as it was earlier the week after López suffered a Grade 1 right hamstring strain, a loss that provides another challenge to a team already in a big hole. But the Twins like their starting pitching group and now have an opportunity to show how deep their stable is.

David Festa, 25, will be promoted to face the Detroit Tigers on Friday night, which affords an extra day of rest for both Chris Paddack and Woods Richardson, who threw a career high 107 pitches on Monday. The Twins are very high on Festa, who proved adept at learning on the job last season, improving the command of his secondary pitches while in the majors. They potentially could even still call upon Zebby Matthews to take López’s original spot in the rotation on Tuesday, though that’s to be determined.

• Byron Buxton left the Twins late Tuesday night for family reasons and returned home to Georgia. Expecting he’d be away from the team for only two days and return Thursday, the Twins didn’t put Buxton on the bereavement list, which requires a three-day stay.

But the Twins also wanted to keep the Royals guessing about whether Buxton, who’s struggled at the plate and ran into the outfield wall Tuesday night, would appear late in Wednesday’s game if he was needed. Before Thursday’s game, after the lineups were announced, the Twins officially acknowledged Buxton’s absence.

(Top photo of Willi Castro and Carlos Estévez: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

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