Twins bullpen melts down again as lack of depth costly in extra-innings loss to Guardians

CLEVELAND – At the start of the season, the Minnesota Twins hoped they had built a bullpen that would be a strength of the 2024 club, one deep enough to help overcome the obstacles created by a starting rotation facing major questions.

They signed several helpful veterans and traded for others, believing they did a nice job adding around a strong foundation. The arms gathered looked promising on paper, too. Fangraphs projected the Twins to be one of the top bullpens in baseball.

But the same kind of volatility that has ruined the plans of countless other teams throughout baseball history has the Twins in a precarious position now, thin on reliable options as their season crumbles around them.

The team’s depth issues surfaced again Wednesday night to add to a growing pile of kick-in-the-head losses.

Faced with protecting a tight lead late in another must-win game and short on options, the Twins turned to Ronny Henriquez, who had a successful September, including pitching a big inning in Tuesday’s win. But Henriquez struggled in a bigger spot Wednesday, surrendering three runs, and the Cleveland Guardians rallied to pull away from the Twins 5-4 in 10 innings at Progressive Field.

Carlos Correa finished with three hits and drove in all four runs and Bailey Ober struck out a career-high 12 batters over seven innings for the Twins, who also blew a late lead Monday at Cleveland. Combined with the Detroit Tigers’ 4-2 victory in Kansas City on Wednesday, the Twins’ lead for third place in the American League wild-card race shrinks to half a game.

“We’re capable of winning a lot of these games,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ve had leads in the eighth inning, ninth inning and now the 10th inning (in this series) that we expect to have and hold and win the games. That’s not a bad formula. The formula is to get a lead late and then finish the games. We were just challenged to finish the games and play complete ball games.”

Many of the relief pitchers the Twins acquired last offseason to help navigate the late innings are long gone as the team falters down the stretch.

Injuries sideline 2023 fireman Brock Stewart, potential setter Justin Topa and talented lefty Kody Funderburk. Underperformance led to the club dismissing Josh Staumont, Jay Jackson and Steven Okert.

The Twins also released the only pitcher they added at the disappointing trade deadline, Trevor Richards, after he lost command of his reliable changeup, walked 11 batters and threw seven wild pitches in 13 innings.

The construction of the bullpen was further hampered by a need for pitchers who provide length. The team’s starting rotation features three inconsistent rookie pitchers who have struggled to work deep into games. The need for relievers who can pitch multiple innings led to the team choosing options like Michael Tonkin, Scott Blewett and Louie Varland over Jorge Alcala, a former late-inning option who had struggled for nearly two months. Alcala was optioned to Triple A after Monday’s late-inning meltdown.

Throw in an offense struggling to put opponents away, and it was a heavy workload for some of the team’s top relief options: Griffin Jax, Cole Sands and Jhoan Duran.

On Wednesday, the Twins didn’t have Jax or Sands available in the 10th inning to protect a 4-2 lead they took on Correa’s two-run single to center in the top half.

Duran, who threw 30 pitches and recorded four outs in Tuesday’s win, extended the game to extra innings with a perfect ninth. And Varland was also unavailable after he pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief of a standout Ober.

Aside from an inconsistent Caleb Thielbar, Baldelli stuck with a group of pitchers who were never tasked with closing games. He singled out Henriquez, who had been successful in four high-leverage appearances earlier in the month, including pitching a scoreless seventh inning on Tuesday.

“Whoever we brought in is going to get some pinch-hitting, some contests on the other side of the plate, and Ronny has a mix that he can throw to those guys,” Baldelli said. “That’s how we landed on him. There’s a couple of options out there that we could have chosen, but Ronny’s a guy who’s gone into some big spots for us and done a good job. So it was a different time for him.”

Although Henriquez insisted he was ready for the point, he struggled from the start. Cleveland’s Kyle Manzardo started the 10th inning with an RBI single to center on a 2-2 fastball by Henriquez. Henriquez then walked Andrés Giménez on four pitches, only one of which was close. Pinch hitter Will Brennan then tied the game with a single on a 1-2 changeup.

With runners on the corners and no outs, Henriquez struck out Bo Naylor. Baldelli then turned to Tonkin, who surrendered the game-winning single to Brayan Rocchio.

“I did everything I needed to normally to come into the game,” Henriquez said through an interpreter. “I was completely normal. … My performances were not in the places I wanted.”

Now 10-19 since Aug. 17, the Twins find themselves in an undesirable spot after a series of bullpen meltdowns.

A month ago, the Twins were riding high at 70-53, holding a 10 1/2-game lead over Detroit, which was four games under .500. Now, the Twins enter Thursday’s series finale a fraction ahead of the Tigers, who are bye before opening a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

First, there was Alcala’s five-run explosion at Texas on August 18. Okert blew an eighth-game lead in San Diego two days after that in a game started by Ober.

Edouard Julien misplayed two balls on August 25, which led to a blown save and a loss for Duran. The twins suffered another devastating loss on September 7 when Duran and Jax blew a two-run lead in Kansas City after another Ober gem.

Then on Monday, Jax, who is in the midst of a breakout season, took the loss after giving up a go-ahead, two-run homer inning after he helped the Twins escape an inherited bases-loaded jam.

“We just have to put it behind us,” Ober said. “I know it’s happened a few times now, but we can’t stop what’s happening. We have to move on and prepare and play like tomorrow is our last day. Go there and try to do our job. … We know what’s going on and where we are and what’s at stake. It is nothing new. We just have to go there and it’s up to us to execute.”

Aside from two pitches to Josh Naylor, Ober executed at a high level on Wednesday.

Relying heavily on his changeup, Ober dominated Cleveland’s offense with quick, efficient innings. He put down the side in order in the first, third and sixth innings. After surrendering game-tying home runs to Naylor in the second and seventh innings, Ober responded with three quick outs.

Ober allowed two earned runs and four hits, walking none in a 101-pitch performance.

Correa’s performance was equally outstanding. He put the Twins ahead by a run in the first inning with an RBI fielder’s choice and hit a Tanner Bibbee pitch far for a run-scoring single in the fifth. But his best at-bat came in the 10th when he ripped a 1-2 slider with the bases loaded into center for a two-run single.

Correa, who extended his hitting streak, finished 3-for-4.

“We’re all doing our best,” Correa said. “No one here is trying to throw games away. It’s the nature of the sport, you know? Tough times come and you’ve got to know how to get out of those and come back the next day and forget about it and try to go out there and win a game.”

(Photo by Michael Tonkin: David Richard / Imagn Images)