Twins unfazed by tough end to strong series

TORONTO -- Reliever Emilio Pagán hung his head as calamity ensued all around him.

The Twins right-hander tried to dance his way out of a big spot, but instead grooved a fastball to Cavan Biggio, and Rogers Centre exploded into cheers. The Blue Jays’ first baseman celebrated as his three-run blast in the eighth inning served up a thrashing conclusion to the Twins' 7-6 loss that burned bright on both ends.

There were other missteps that led to Minnesota’s collapse, though nothing stung more than Pagán’s slip-up. The Twins bullpen was pressed -- Jhoan Duran and Brock Stewart were down -- so, without other options, Pagán was thrust into the fire as momentum roared in Toronto’s favor. It didn’t go well.

“I commanded the ball great pretty much the whole inning except for those three pitches,” said Pagán, who allowed two singles before the fateful homer. “Unfortunately, that's the way baseball works sometimes.”

Despite how the game concluded, the Twins’ demise Sunday wasn’t an instant freefall. It was a slow burn that saw the club drain its own lead, one mistake at a time. Carlos Correa, arguably the club’s best defender, uncorked a wild throw in the fifth inning on an attempted double play off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., allowing a run to score in the process.

One batter later, Matt Chapman crushed a two-run homer to reduce the Twins’ lead to two. Just like that, things began to spiral.

“I felt great,” said Twins starter Louie Varland, who allowed four earned runs. “I made one mistake [to Chapman]. Wish I would’ve got that double play from [Correa] to [Alex Kirilloff], but, again, that’s baseball. And it didn’t work out that way.”

Next, a massive pitch timer violation loomed large as Kirilloff was called for a batter’s infraction in the sixth inning, resulting in an automatic strikeout. Per MLB’s rules, the hitter must be in the box and attentive to the pitcher when the clock strikes eight seconds. Kirilloff was stunned after home plate umpire Brian Walsh announced the violation -- the 25-year-old thought his head was up and facing the pitcher. Walsh disagreed, and the miscue stranded Michael A. Taylor at second and booted Minnesota out of a two-out opportunity to add key insurance runs.

“[Kirilloff] looked down for a split second,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “But he was looking at the pitcher also when the clock said eight, so I think it's a bold call. I mean, I can't agree with that, and I think the Blue Jays are walking off the field thinking they got away with something.”

In that situation, there’s no guarantee Kirilloff drives in a run, but from Baldelli’s perspective, it was hard to accept his club losing a chance to score.

“It's just really hard when the opportunities get taken away from you on a judgment call that rarely takes place,” the Twins' skipper said, “because I don't think it was that clear.”

Make no mistake, pitch timer discrepancies are not why the Twins lost this contest. Baldelli characterized the middle innings of this game as “stale,” a contrast to how hot things began. Minnesota’s offense sparkled at the beginning of Sunday’s game, romping Jays starter Kevin Gausman for six runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Gausman’s splitter has been borderline unhittable this year, with opponents batting just .169 against it entering Sunday. As a counter-attack to the pitch, which disguises itself as a fastball until tumbling to the dirt at the last moment, the Twins simply let it go, offering a refreshing dose of patience from an offense that entered this game with an MLB-worst 27% strikeout rate.

As a result, scoring opportunities piled up. Donovan Solano hit his first homer of the season, while Royce Lewis picked up three more hits and two RBIs, making him 7-for-8 over this three-game series.

The Blue Jays' ace had no answers for why the Twins always seem to hit him hard. Gausman entered Sunday with a 5.88 ERA in 10 career starts against Minnesota -- numbers that only got worse after this one.

“[The Twins] drive me crazy,” Gausman said, at a loss for words. “For whatever reason, my whole career has been a grind against them.”

Yet, on an afternoon where the Twins sank themselves with a gaggle of mistakes, the net takeaways were still all positive. The offense reeled itself out of a deep funk, scoring 18 runs and winning the series. Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan looked great in the previous two games, bolstering the reputation of Minnesota’s rotation as one of the best in the AL. At 33-33, the club still leads the AL Central, too, and pocketed a key series that’ll play bigger come September and October.

But, perhaps most importantly, the Twins clubhouse isn’t fazed. The vibes are still very pleasant as a trip back to Minnesota awaits.

“I think our mistakes were stuff that's super easy to clean up,” said Varland. “I'd say it's simple. The last three days, the at-bats have been there. We're going on the off-day tomorrow and then coming and facing Milwaukee and Detroit. It’ll be fine.”