Taxed bullpen, injuries catch up to Twins in finale

LOS ANGELES -- Amid what had been shaping up to be a largely successful series against the class of the National League, the Twins ended the set with a painful reminder of some of their challenges from last year -- at times, literally.

Once again, the Twins needed to test their bullpen depth -- and this time, it didn’t go well, as Emilio Pagán issued a game-tying, bases-loaded walk and a go-ahead grand slam in the decisive five-run seventh inning that sent the Dodgers to a 7-3, come-from-behind victory. Making matters worse, Minnesota lost three hitters to injury after the offense finally appeared to be hitting its stride during the past week.

Nick Gordon will head to the IL with a fractured right shin after fouling a pitch off his leg in the fifth inning, and Joey Gallo also left the game with a contusion after a foul off his right leg in the ninth inning. Factor in the left hamstring strain that led to Jorge Polanco’s early exit, and this could be a different-looking roster when the Twins play their opener in Anaheim on Friday.

“That’s tough news,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Some pretty good fight in the series. Until the end, a ballgame where [we had] a ton of opportunities. Got back in the game with some good swings. Put ourselves in position to score some runs. We weren’t able to do it with the bases loaded.”

Until things spiraled out of hand in the last few innings, the Twins once again went toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, using homers from Byron Buxton and Gallo, and another surprising example of small ball, when Willi Castro’s attempted steal of third drew an errant throw and allowed him to score the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.

But in a reminder of the Twins’ undoing last season, the bullpen didn’t have the depth to hold the slim lead, with Pagán forced into a high-leverage situation due to the lasting effects of Minnesota’s 12-inning loss on Monday. The Twins had Jorge López and Jhoan Duran lined up for the eighth and ninth, but with Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart both unavailable, they had to ask Pagán for a seventh-inning escape.

After the Twins navigated Tuesday’s win using only Jovani Moran, Stewart and Jax out of their bullpen, they were trying to bridge the middle innings with some combination of Moran, José De León and Pagán -- and they nearly did it until the Dodgers strung together their two-out rally.

Even after De León struck out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to open the seventh, two-out singles from Will Smith and Max Muncy brought Pagán into the game. He felt he made decent pitches and didn’t get some calls against Jason Heyward, who drew a walk. He then issued a game-tying walk to Miguel Vargas.

Pagán’s first pitch to James Outman was a fastball too far down -- and the rookie crushed it over the center-field wall for the first homer allowed by Pagán this season. He’d gone eight straight appearances without allowing an earned run before his two outings at Dodger Stadium.

“I felt like I made some good pitches early and then kind of lost feel for what I was trying to do,” Pagán said. “The cutter wasn't any good. Got in some bad counts and then made one real big mistake.”

The Dodgers’ opportunistic swing with the bases loaded was particularly jarring because it came as a stark contrast to the Twins’ continued struggles in that situation, as they once again failed to score after loading the bases with none out in the sixth inning of a then-tied game. That dropped the Twins to 0-for-7 with the bases loaded and none out this season, and 5-for-40 overall with the bases loaded.

“I’m simplifying here, but we’ve just got to hit it forward,” Baldelli said. “If you hit it forward, a lot of good things can happen. It doesn’t have to be a great swing. That part, yes, tough, and tough to swallow.”

These were unorthodox circumstances for the bullpen amid an otherwise successful series in many facets of the game, and the Twins are counting on their bases-loaded luck to turn around -- and to get back to normal pitching usage soon enough.

“I like the way that our guys fought this game, and all series long,” Baldelli said. “We came here to win the series. We didn’t win the series. But we’re going to take some things from this series.”