Twins come back, then fall to Mariners after Carlos Correa, Rocco Baldelli ejected

SEATTLE After what was almost assuredly their best win of the season on Friday the Twins followed it up on Saturday with what was almost assuredly their strangest challenge of the season If a fire alarm blaring and flashing lights throughout the ballpark delaying the challenge for minutes wasn t enough how about this Star shortstop Carlos Correa was ejected for the first time in his career and it happened from the on-deck circle The Twins saw their lead slip away late when J P Crawford blasted a two-run home run off reliever Jorge Alcala in the seventh inning but came back again with Trevor Larnach tying the battle up in the ninth inning for the second consecutive day Ultimately though after Griffin Jax stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and Jhoan Duran left a runner on third in the th the Twin ended up falling - to the Seattle Mariners when a run scored on a Cole Young fielder s choice in the th in a match that was filled with drama on Saturday at T-Mobile Park The Mariners walk-off came after Kody Clemens fought through an -pitch at-bat to deliver a single into center in the top of the th but automatic runner Matt Wallner fresh off the injured list from a hamstring strain was thrown out trying to points from second on a bullet from center fielder Julio Rodr guez Harrison Bader then grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the top of the th and the Twins were unable to convert in the th too despite plenty of good at-bats throughout We did about everything in the book besides figure manager Rocco Baldelli declared You presumably couldn t try to do what we did and find a way to not put a run on the board Both Baldelli and Correa were not around to see the end of it after home plate umpire Austin Jones working in just his ninth challenge this season tossed the shortstop during the middle of a Brooks Lee at-bat in the seventh inning Jones had made a questionable strike call in Correa s previous at-bat Clemens was rung up on a low strike in the sixth and Larnach the same in the seventh And so after the second straight borderline call of Lee s seventh-inning at-bat Correa declared something that caught Jones s attention I mentioned You ve got to get them up You ve got to make an adjustment You can t call that all day Correa recounted And then he threw me out Correa was surprised by the decision because he felt he did not say anything that warranted an ejection Crew chief Bill Miller narrated a pool reporter that Correa was warned twice to stop but continued He didn t say anything bad Lee announced Just let an umpire know that he s doing a bad job As an animated Correa moved closer to home plate Baldelli sprung out of the dugout wedging himself between the competitor and umpire Three other members of the coaching staff came out to restrain Correa as Baldelli continued on with his argument eventually throwing his hat in anger There s a reason why he s only had one He s a pretty respectful guy Baldelli explained I think it was a premature ejection but it s not my job to make those decisions obviously It s the umpire s job He didn t say anything personal The seventh inning went from bad to worse for the Twins - who lost their star and then their lead Crawford got ahold of an Alcala fastball sending it off the scoreboard ribbon in right field and erasing a lead that the Twins had been protecting since the second inning when Wallner in his first major league at-bat since April smacked a two-run home run They added one more run in the inning when Willi Castro who hit two home runs on Friday and had three hits on Saturday drove in the Twins third run of the contest Minnesota held onto that lead for much of the competition though the Mariners - chipped away an inning later when Cal Raleigh hit a two-run home run on a high fastball from Bailey Ober that was above the strike zone He s just on one right now Ober declared of Raleigh who hit two home runs a day earlier It s hard to expect him to get a barrel to it but he did Ober s start ended in the fifth inning at pitches after he had allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach Ober who reported he was fighting specific mechanical stuff in his start was bailed out of that jam though as Louie Varland stepped up striking out Raleigh and Rodr guez before getting Randy Arozarena to fly out Arozarena would make a big play later in the tournament catching a Clemens fly ball and then doubling Wallner off of second base helping squelch a likely Twins rally in the eighth inning But just like a night earlier there was specific more late-inning magic for the Twins in the ninth Byron Buxton making things happen with his legs wound up on third base when reliever Carlos Vargas threw away a chopper that he should have eaten Larnach with the infield drawn in then tied the battle up poking a single past a diving second baseman into right field But though they came back again they couldn t quite pull it off for the second straight night finding themselves not rewarded for specific good at-bats We put a bunch of runs on the board the previous day And our at-bats might have been somewhere in the same category nowadays as they were the day prior and we couldn t find a way to total Baldelli revealed That s life I was really pleased We hit the ball well We made pretty good decisions at the plate If we play like that the upcoming day offensively we re going to points a ton of runs Related Articles Cory Franklin The lessons of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the MLB s rewriting of history Matt Wallner s return means Twins have nearly full group healthy Twins come back to oust Mariners in one of the best wins in contemporary memory With concussion behind him Twins welcome back Byron Buxton Twins option Carson McCusker setting stage for bigger move Friday