SAN DIEGO – The Twins had only two tantalizing scoring opportunities all day Sunday, and they couldn't manage so much as a well-placed ground ball or a broken-bat blooper to bring runs home. The Padres had only one such chance during the game, and … well, they pulled out a victory with a well-placed ground ball and a broken-bat blooper.
"And that's the game we play," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the 3-2 disappointment at Petco Park. "Sometimes you've just got to put the ball in play and see what happens."
What happened was, the Twins let a winnable, well-pitched game slip away. Yes, it's only one game, but it was a painful one for the Twins, who were trying to close the month of July with a .500 record, and their longest road trip of the season with a winning one. Instead, it goes down as a 10-12 month and a 3-4 travelogue, and a humbling way to wait for whatever help the front office can acquire in deadline deals to arrive.
"We haven't played our best baseball all year. We haven't been healthy all year. Those are two true things," Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said on the team's radio network shortly before the loss. "We're going to try to find ways to add to this group."
The need appears urgent, given the standings. Cleveland and Chicago both won on Sunday, pulling the Guardians within one game and the White Sox within two for the AL Central lead. The trade deadline is at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and the Twins clubhouse is tense as negotiations go on.
"That's something I don't have control of. That's their job," said rookie Jose Miranda, who smashed a solo shot to center field in the sixth inning, one inning after Luis Arraez hit a rocket of his own into the right field seats, to put the Twins ahead 2-1 — providing all the offense the team could muster against Padres starter Sean Manaea and three relievers. "Sometimes we think [about] what could we need or where can we get better, but we can't say anything because we don't have anything to do with that."
Miranda could have done something about the Twins' 0-for-4 shutout with runners in scoring position, coming to the plate in the first inning after Manaea walked two of the first three hitters he faced. But Kyle Garlick missed a two-strike high fastball and Miranda missed a two-strike low changeup, and the inning ended.
Manaea retired 11 hitters in a row until Arraez's leadoff home run in the fifth, then gave up back-to-back singles to Tim Beckham, making his Twins debut, and Gilberto Celestino. Caleb Hamilton bunted both runners into scoring position, but Byron Buxton struck out and after Carlos Correa was intentionally walked, Jorge Polanco grounded into a force play.
