KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carlos Correa spotted something with Pablo López, noticing the Minnesota Twins ace grabbing the back of his leg as he came to a crucial moment against Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt.
López wanted to keep going after the Royals put runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning Tuesday night.
Correa spoke up.
“I asked him,” Correa said. “I said: ‘You have to be honest with me, what’s going on?’ He said that the back of his hamstring was really tight.
“I said: ‘Okay, we’ve got to make a decision here, because we cannot afford this to get worse and for us to lose you for a long time.’”
López swallowed his pride and bravado and let the bullpen handle the moment. Right-hander Cole Sands walked Witt to load the bases, and went to a full count against Vinnie Pasquantino, but a fly ball ended the fifth.
Cruelly for the Twins, they never could score again, and a throwing error by Griffin Jax in the eighth led to the Royals scoring the go-ahead run in a 2-1 victory against the Twins.
López has been diagnosed with a mild strain of his right hamstring. He is slated to have an MRI on Wednesday, but López insisted that he plans on making his next scheduled start.
The Twins already have lost several players to injuries, but not having López would be a killer blow to a team that is off to a 3-8 start, their worst since 2016.
Manager Rocco Baldelli said Twins players, first off, need to trust in each other.
“We’re being tested right now,” Baldelli said. “We have to be exceptionally strong. When things don’t go well, that’s not when you start to question everything and start to tear certain things down or premises that you believe in.”
Jax, who has struggled to get results so far on his pitches in previous outings, retired the leadoff man in the eighth with the score still deadlocked. Against Witt, he misfired after a comebacker, throwing the ball well over the head of first baseman Ty France. Witt reached third and might have scored if not for a lunging save by Correa.
No matter, because with the infield playing in, Pasquantino followed with a chopper to first. France thought about going home, but the ball was hit too slowly and Witt was too fast. He scored the lead run.
“I don’t have anything else to say besides that it’s a throw I should make every day,” Jax said. “I didn’t make it, and we lose because of it.”
Correa saved the day a couple of times, but lamented a missed opportunity in the eighth to get the Twins more offense. Singles by Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach put runners on the corners with one out. DaShawn Keirsey, a pinch-runner for Jeffers, made an electrifying run from first to third on Larnach’s single.
Correa followed against John Schreiber with a double play. Correa has been struggling with topping the ball on his swings.
“That’s why I was so mad, because I saw the pitch really well, and it was a great pitch to drive,” Correa said. “And I just, I just didn’t stick with what I’ve been working on in the cage and it bit me in the ass.”
It was a shame for the Twins to go down that way, also losing López, after a great duel matching zeroes with Royals ace Cole Ragans.
“You’re going against their best guy and it’s like, ‘OK, I’ll do my part,’” López said. “Then I’ll do it again. It makes it really fun. It was a fun game all around in that department. Who can do it better? Who can have quick innings? Let’s keep it fun.”
The Twins are having a hard time finding much else that’s fun right now.
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