With first base open and the go-ahead run already in scoring position in the ninth inning, the Twins considered intentionally walking Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. before ultimately deciding against it.
Witt looked at strike one from reliever Eric Orze. He challenged strike two, successfully overturning the call, before going down beneath the zone and lining the third pitch of his at-bat above the head of leaping shortstop Orlando Arcia. The ball landed in left field, Josh Rojas scored and that run proved the difference in the Twins’ 3-2 loss to the Royals on Saturday afternoon at Target Field.
“The split was below the zone,” manager Derek Shelton said of the pitch. “It wasn’t even a strike. You’re just talking about a really good player.”
Witt’s single came after the Royals (26-39) had tied the game up one batter earlier. Orze, in for the save opportunity after Arcia had given the Twins’ (30-36) an eighth-inning lead with a pinch-hit home run, allowed a single to begin the inning. Pinch runner Tyler Tolbert quickly swiped second.
The next batter, Rojas, sent a ball back Orze’s way. He fielded it and threw to second, trying to get Tolbert diving back into the base. He was unsuccessful.
“In my eyes, I just felt like in the moment, he was far enough off,” Orze said. “I trust myself to snap that throw over there, and he got back just in time.”
A sacrifice bunt advanced both runners and a sacrifice fly tied the game up before Witt came up and collected with the game-winning hit.
“I feel like I executed literally almost every pitch. I mixed well. I got to my locations,” Orze said. “I threw the ball hard. Everything was sharp. It was just one of those days where you give everything you’ve got and baseball just kind of beats you sometimes. It’s a tough one to swallow feeling like I threw the ball really well. It was just one of those that didn’t go our way and I have to wear it.”
The Twins still had a chance to win it after that with Kody Clemens doubling to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Victor Caratini was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Royce Lewis, just recalled from Triple-A, to play hero with a pair of outs in the ninth. He ended up looking at strike three to end the game.
It was a game in which the Twins finished with just four hits on the day — and none in the first four innings of the game. Tristan Gray’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning brought home the team’s first run, but they were able to do little else against Royals starter Luinder Avila.
Avila dueled with Joe Ryan, who said he felt “a little off with the delivery,” but still threw six innings and gave up just one run, which came on a solo home run to Carter Jensen to lead off the game.
“Tough day kind of all around to score for both teams, I think,” Ryan said. “I’m glad I could keep us in it for a little bit.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.twincities.com ’
