Alcala having resurgence at key time for Twins' bullpen

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jorge Alcala couldn’t help but laugh out loud when asked when the last time was that he actually felt healthy and well enough to pitch like this.

“Since 2021,” Alcala said through interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “I haven't felt like I've been right like [I am] right now.”

It’s a return and resurgence the Twins couldn’t have counted on but have desperately needed this season. Alcala’s upstart 2024 season continued with another big escape in a big moment in Sunday’s series finale against the Guardians, as he erased a bases-loaded jam to preserve a tie game in the fourth inning of an eventual 5-3 loss at Target Field to split the four-game series.

And that loss was because the bases-loaded escapes went both ways.

The Twins seemingly had all-world closer Emmanuel Clase on the ropes in the ninth inning, when he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases with none out, but Clase rebounded to strike out Willi Castro and induce a hard grounder off the bat of Trevor Larnach that became a game-ending double play thanks to slick turns by Andrés Giménez and Brayan Rocchio.

Though Alcala did his job to clean up the logjam left on the bases by rookie right-hander David Festa and Byron Buxton crushed two homers, the Minnesota bullpen couldn’t hold the Guardians’ offense at bay in a four-run sixth inning that pushed the Twins back to 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central, with four head-to-head matchups remaining in September.

“I did tell our guys after the game, just very quickly, that every series we play from here on out will be the most important series of the season,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I don’t want anyone to get too caught up, just in case anyone might be thinking that this series mattered any more than any other series.”

“Still have 6-7 weeks of baseball left,” Buxton said. “That's the fun part of it. This series doesn't make the rest of our season.”

The Twins won’t have much time to lick their wounds, because another big series looms against the Royals, who are only a half-game back of the Twins in the division -- but increasingly, Alcala has continued to emerge as a go-to option in the big moments of these big games, especially with runners on base.

“I guess, yes, I am seeking him out to do it,” Baldelli said last week. “I think he’s really good with coming in with a burst of energy, making good pitches.”

That’s exactly what Alcala did in Sunday’s fourth inning, when Baldelli pulled an aggressive lever to call upon his fireman early in the game after Festa’s trend of struggling the second time through a lineup continued when he allowed a homer, single, two walks and a fielder’s choice to begin the frame.

Alcala was throwing around 98 mph with the fastball instead of 99-100, but that still worked fine for him as he got through two left-handed batters -- Bo Naylor and Rocchio -- without damage, inducing a shallow flyout from Naylor that wasn’t deep enough to get a run home, then another lofted ball to center by Rocchio that ended the threat.

Alcala has stranded 13 of the 15 baserunners he has inherited this season, and that’s not to mention how he returned for another inning to dispatch two more lefties in Steven Kwan and Will Brennan plus switch-hitter José Ramírez with a trio of changeups, continuing to thrive in a situation that the Twins had avoided with him in his earlier years.

“If you have speed-limit guys, he can throw to 100 [mph],” Baldelli said. “If you have guys that you need to throw changeups to, and stuff moving down and away, to left-handed hitters, he has that. He has the good, hard slider there, too. He really has pitches to get anybody out.”

Alcala owns a 2.25 ERA in 44 innings, having emerged as the Twins’ secondary setup option, which has become all the more important in the wake of the season-ending shoulder injury to Brock Stewart and Justin Topa being pulled off his rehab assignment on Saturday.

“I really enjoy those situations,” Alcala said. “That's what I've prepared for, and I've just got to be ready whenever I get the call and the ball.”

“The more you can get those guys into those spots, I think the better they get in those spots,” Baldelli said. “And he’s earned his opportunities. He pitched really well today.”