Carlos Correa’s game-tying home run try falls a foot short as Twins lose to Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Carlos Correa claims he would not have trotted around the bases in slow motion, or run backward to each base, or waved his arms and encouraged the packed house like a symphony conductor.

He’s got more self-control than the average human. Because who could have blamed him?

An absorbing game that featured Byron Buxton hitting the second pitch of the night 10 rows deep into the seats, the first home run that two-way star Shohei Ohtani had allowed in two years to the day, and then Ohtani’s absurd revenge with a 441-foot blast of his own just minutes later suddenly was nearly overshadowed by an ending that would have been straight out of “The Natural.”

Correa, eight years later still the personification of evil to Los Angeles Dodgers fans because of the Houston Astros’ trash-banging sign stealing in the 2017 World Series, hit the final pitch of the game 399 feet to Dodger Stadium’s center-field wall.

Four hundred feet would have delivered a stunning, game-tying, three-run home run and answered the non-stop booing. Instead, L.A. center fielder James Outman lived up to his name by reaching over the wall and snagging the blast, preserving the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the Twins.

From his spot in the dugout, Rocco Baldelli thought Correa had tied the score, “and I’m not just saying that. He crushed that ball, and I’m not really sure how it didn’t go out of the ballpark,” the Twins manager said. “That ball is tattooed, and he hit it the perfect trajectory to get out of the ballpark. So yeah, we were pretty surprised. Everyone on our side of the field was surprised.”

Correa, too.

“It’s a game, and it’s entertainment. I’m glad the fans can come and have fun,” said Correa, who long ago fessed up to his role in the scandal. “They are devoted fans that love their team, and they know the game. That’s fun. When you’re a home player and you have fans like that who back you up and they’re always there for you, you’ve got to admire that.”

Buxton wasn’t so sure

“It’s very motivating. It’s motivating for me, too,” the All-Star outfielder said. “He’s side by side with me, and I don’t like it, so I know he don’t like it. It’s just one of those things where, [you’ve] kind of got a little more chip on your shoulder to try to go out there and get the job done.”

Buxton got it done in memorable fashion, rocketing an Ohtani sweeper into the seats, his fourth game-opening home run of the season and 15th of his career. Ohtani didn’t pitch last year after Tommy John surgery.

“It’s pretty amazing. I mean, second pitch? You see Shohei Ohtani the first time in a game, and you hit it out of the ballpark?” Baldelli marveled. “It’s not like he saw 15 of them and was finally able to time one up. He can just do great things.”

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Perhaps you’ve heard — so can Ohtani. The three-time MVP watched Mookie Betts draw a walk to lead off the Dodgers’ half of the first, then picked out a pitch from David Festa he liked, a hanging changeup, and absolutely blasted it, well over Buxton’s head.

“That was crazy. … That was impressive,” Buxton said. “That’s like, as a kid you give up a homer and you go back into the dugout and say, ‘I’m about to get that back.’ That’s literally like that moment. He’s awesome.”

From there, the Twins went into their aggravating habit of leaving runners on base, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, while the Dodgers added on with more home runs — two by catcher Will Smith off Festa, and one by Andy Pages off Cole Sands. Ohtani, still in the Dodgers’ rehab protocols, pitched only three innings, but the Twins couldn’t dent Dustin May either.

The score was 5-1 Dodgers in the ninth, with no hints that any more drama was coming. Yet the Twins, helped by the wildness of relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, came alive, drawing two walks and a hit batter to load the bases.

He got down 0-2, took a pitch in the dirt, then zeroed in on a mid-plate splitter.