Twins' nemesis umpire Phil Cuzzi strikes again

Fourteen years ago, Cuzzi cost the Twins at Yankee Stadium in the playoffs.

Phil Cuzzi is one of the great villains in Minnesota Twins history – and he struck again Monday night in Los Angeles. 

It was the 10th inning and the Twins had gone ahead 8-7 on a bases-loaded walk by Christian Vazquez. Then with one out and the bases still loaded, Alex Kirilloff came to the plate and struck out on three pitches. 

• Pitch 1: High and outside, called a strike by Cuzzi
• Pitch 2: Foul ball
• Pitch 3: Inside, called strike three by Cuzzi

"He never had a chance in that at-bat," said Twins announcer Dick Bremer on the Bally Sports North broadcast. "In a key spot, you've got to be better than that. [The catcher] had to reach across the plate."

"He never had a chance in that at-bat."
"That's not good."
"In a key spot, you've got to be better than that. He had to reach across the plate." pic.twitter.com/ORamLIJGCv

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 16, 2023

Kirilloff wasn't guaranteed to drive in more runs in the at-bat, but two pitches called strikes when they were clearly off the plate put him in a hole and greatly diminished his chance to do damage.  

Instead, the Twins ended the inning ahead 8-7 and the Dodgers tied the game one batter into the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by JD Martinez and won the game 9-8 in 12 innings. 

Sign up: Subscribe to our MINNESOTA TWINS newsletters

That wasn't the only moment the Twins had an issue with Monday night. After taking a 7-6 lead on Byron Buxton's double in the eighth inning, the Dodgers responded with back-to-back hits to tie the game in the bottom of the eight, but Twins manager Rocco Baldelli thought David Peralta's double that tied the score was foul. 

"The Peralta double’s a foul ball," said Baldelli. "It’s a big reason why we lost the game because they were awarded a double on a ball that was not close to being fair."

Unbelievable for the #mntwins!!David Peralta’s “hit” was definitely a foul ball, this game should still be 6-6, how did the umps miss this???!pic.twitter.com/Fl36iGYGBQ

— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 16, 2023

Cuzzi didn't make that call. That was first base umpire Shane Livensparger. 

Rewind time back to 2009. Game 2 of the ALDS between the Twins and Yankees, with the Yankees leading the best-of-five series 1-0. With the score tied 3-3 in the 11th inning, Joe Mauer hit a ball down the left-field line that glanced off the tip of Melky Cabrera's glove and landed fair. What should've been a double was ruled foul and the umpire who blew the call was Cuzzi. 

"That's Phil Cuzzi down the left-field line. About 20 feet away from the play and he just missed it," the television announcer said after the infamous blown call. 

The Twins didn't score in the 11th but the Yankees did, on a walk-off homer by Mark Teixeira. Had Cuzzi called that play correctly, who knows how the series against the Yankees would've turned out. Momentum would've been on their side with Games 3 and 4 in Minneapolis. 

But it's now a blip on the Twins' 17-game playoff losing streak that dates back to 2004, and a big reason why the Twins have the longest postseason losing streak of any team in the four major North American sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL).