After another ugly loss for Twins, Carlos Correa suggests offense will turn it around: Its goi

Publish date: 2024-05-02

BOSTON — Carlos Correa says the forecast calls for good times ahead for the Twins.

They can’t arrive quickly enough.

The Twins continued an ugly stretch with a late-inning meltdown in an 8-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon. It was the fourth loss in five games for the Twins, who have been outscored 29-10 since the start of the eighth inning Tuesday night.

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What had been a one-run contest Sunday got out of hand when relievers Caleb Thielbar and Cody Stashak combined to allow six eighth-inning runs. But the bullpen is only part of the team’s issues.

The Twins aren’t hitting, especially with runners in scoring position. They’re struggling defensively. And they can’t seem to stay healthy, either.

“Our offense hasn’t got it going yet like it should,” Correa said. “But that’s what happens when you play 162 every year. There are some ups. There are some downs. We just happened to start in a down right now. But it’s going to pick back up. When it picks back up, it’s going to be fun again.”

To paraphrase the internet meme, the Twins are straight up not having a good time.

Despite the addition of Correa, who signed a three-year deal that pays him $35.1 million annually, the offense is off to the worst nine-game start in franchise history.

The Twins are hitting .182/.274/.329 and have scored just 29 runs. The team’s 51 hits are its fewest since moving to the Twin Cities, seven worse than the abhorrent 1981 club that finished 13th out of 14 among American League teams in runs.

Sunday was yet another rough showing. Against Michael Wacha and four relievers, the Twins managed only one official at-bat with runners in scoring position. Their best chance occurred in the seventh inning when Kyle Garlick batted with the bases loaded and two outs shortly after a Trevor Larnach sacrifice fly cut reduced Boston’s lead to 2-1. Facing reliever Ryan Brasier after Gary Sánchez singled and Miguel Sanó walked to load the bases with two outs, Garlick struck out to end the threat.

And then it all came toppling down.

Thielbar allowed four consecutive hits, including a 44-foot RBI single by Xander Bogaerts and a J.D. Martinez RBI double, and the game was effectively over. One out later, Trevor Story greeted Cody Stashak with a two-run single to make it 6-1.

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But the Red Sox wouldn’t relent and tacked on two more runs.

“That’s tough when you’re out there for 2 1/2 hours kind of grinding it out and keeping yourself with a chance to win,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We feel like we’ve had a chance to win literally every night we step out there. Kind of looking for a big hit at times and just trying to get one more inning to keep it tied or to keep it a one-run game when you get that hit. It feels like when you don’t get it a few times over the course of a week, it’s challenging. You can’t get overly emotional about it. You have to just keep trying to have good at-bats.”

On the board! #mntwins cut the deficit in half after a sac fly from Larnach pic.twitter.com/mbgVWc9u96

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 17, 2022

Baldelli isn’t worried about the team’s approach. He liked what he saw from Twins hitters in spring training. It just hasn’t carried over.

Twins hitters have continued to work deep counts. They entered Sunday fifth in hard-hit rate (44.8 percent), sixth in barrel rate (10.1 percent) and fifth in exit velocity (90.7 mph). Those efforts just haven’t translated into runs.

A lack of offense Sunday led to a tough-luck loss for Bailey Ober, who was outstanding for six innings. Ober retired 12 of 13 batters in the middle innings and kept the Twins locked in a scoreless tie.

The right-hander’s only blemish occurred after Sanó dropped a soft liner to start the sixth inning, which allowed Rafael Devers to reach base. Bogaerts followed with a double off the Green Monster, and Martinez and Alex Verdugo each hit sacrifice flies for a 2-0 lead.

Ober limited Boston to four hits and two unearned runs over six innings while walking one and striking out three.

“We’re very close, I feel like,” Ober said. “I mean, we were in that ballgame for seven innings. We’re pretty close to making some big pitches and big hits. We’re just waiting on someone to step up.”

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Correa anticipates it won’t be long before someone does.

As good a candidate as anyone to turn it around, the struggling shortstop said he’s not ready to panic. Correa, who is 0-for-11 in the series with two walks, has a .512 OPS and only one RBI.

His timing has been off early, something he’s accustomed to occurring in March. After an abbreviated spring, Correa isn’t surprised to feel off balance. He expects it won’t remain that way much longer, especially after a 15-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning Sunday, albeit one that ended with him striking out looking on a questionable pitch.

“Usually throughout my career, when I look at April, the first couple weeks are always finding that feel,” Correa said. “But once I get it, then I take off. Not too worried. The vibe here is still great. We’ve been in every game. We’ve had a chance to win every game. That’s great, a positive side of it. Now we’ve got to put all the pieces together in order for us to get a couple more wins this road trip.”

Byron Buxton set to ramp up baseball activity

Byron Buxton said Sunday he’d dealt with knee soreness leading up to Friday’s early exit. Several hours after he yelled in frustration when walking to the Twins dugout, Buxton was comforted by the results of an MRI that showed no structural damage.

Buxton said he feels fine and expects to learn more when he begins to increase his baseball activities Monday.

“Once I came in and got checked out and got a little bit of a look at my MRI, it kind of settled me down a little bit,” Buxton said. “But off the top, it was kind of more of a tingling sensation up my leg, and just more cautious than anything. Normally, I probably wouldn’t have said anything, just because I wanted to stay in and play. But it’s early in the season, and it’s better to miss a couple of games now than to miss two or three months later. So it’s all about being smart and the experience of knowing when you can be on the field and when you need to take time. I’ve got veteran guys in here to back me up and keep me mentally right. … Everybody on the team texted me. For me, that’s how close we’ve gotten together even in the short time we have.”

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Sonny Gray: ‘(Injury) was not something big’

The most difficult part for Sonny Gray used to be seeing his name listed on the sports ticker for a trip to the injured list. But once he learned to wrap his head around it, Gray said it became easier to accept missing a start, as he will this week.

Sunday morning, the Twins placed Gray on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain.

Gray doesn’t expect a long absence. He plans to work hard to rehab his hamstring before throwing a bullpen during the upcoming series in Kansas City.

“It’s that initial, ‘Oh,’” Gray said. “But in the grand scheme of it, if you’re looking at it as a starter, if you’re looking at it as three or four days of just getting pushed back, then it’s easier to deal with. … Once you get past (the sports ticker) and you get past that 48-hour initial shock window, then it’s just for me to take care of myself the next two days.”

(Photo: Billie Weiss / Getty Images)

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