PITTSBURGH — A couple of extras from PNC Park:
One change that video replay has made: Players sometimes just shrug and say 'whatever,' when they are certain an umpire's call is wrong.
So it went Monday for Logan Morrison, who was pinch-hitting for Trevor Hildenberger in the seventh inning. A sinker from Pirates reliever Dovydas Neverauskas hit him on the top of his foot, and Morrison took a step toward first base. But home plate umpire Chris Conroy stopped him.
"He said, 'Stay here, I don't have it hitting your foot,' " Morrison said. "I just said, 'OK. But [the Twins] are going to challenge it."
Sure enough, it took only a few seconds for video to confirm that Morrison was right, the Twins' challenge was upheld, and he went to first.
It appeared that Morrison was slightly disappointed that he didn't get a chance to hit, but the Twins' slugger said that wasn't correct.
"The situation there, trailing by a run, with [Brian] Dozier batting behind me, if you can find a way on base, it only takes one swing," Morrison said. "That could have turned the game around." But Dozier grounded into a double play, and Joe Mauer flew out, ending the threat.
XXX
The Twins gained a baserunner by being hit with the baseball, but they lost one, too. Ehire Adrianza, pinch-hitting in the ninth inning, slapped a chopper off the plate, but it took an unusual bounce and hit his leg a step or two after he left the box. Conroy quickly called the play dead, and Adrianza was out.
"Funny bounce," Adrianza said with a shrug. "I couldn't get out of the way."