Grand Slam Spoils Shane Baz's Debut in Twins' 6-5 Win Over Rays
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The script was perfectly written for Shane Baz's first start of the season on Saturday. All the boxes were checked for the 22-year-old Tampa Bay Rays phenom.
They Rays scored three runs in the top of the first, before Baz even took the mound. Then he had a 1-2-3 first inning, and did the same in the second.
This was looking good. Real good.
But it all fell apart quickly in the third inning, when Baz, who missed the first two months of the season with an elbow injury, lost his control. He gave up two walks after a single to start the inning, and then first baseman Luis Arreaz hit a grand-slam into the right-field seats at Target Field.
After he walked the next batter, Jorge Polanco, Jose Miranda then doubled to right. He was thrown out at third, as it turned out the only out Baz would get in the inning. Rays manager Kevin Cash had seen enough, with everything turning quickly. And even though the Rays scratched back, the Twins won for the second straight day, winning 6-5.
“I think he just lost command for whatever reason, can’t exactly pinpoint right now why he looked good the first two innings and then just lost the strike zone,” Cash said. “Arraez is really good, obviously; look at his slash line right now. He’s swinging the bat well. He got us, and then it just drove Shane’s pitch count up a little higher that inning than we wanted to keep it going.”
Baz said afterward that he felt fine physically, but also knew he can't have a meltdown in finding the strike zone. Not against a lineup like the Twins, that has enough thumpers to make you pay for walks.
“Whenever that happens, there always seems to be a ball put in play or a homer or something like that,” Baz said. “Credit to them for capitalizing on it, but I've just got to go after guys a little better and get ahead.
“Physically, I felt good, so that’s obviously promising. But nothing really matters other than the final result. After that walk, I’ve got to reel it back in after that. So nothing felt different. It was just, I think, a matter of making a focus on putting the ball in the zone.”
Baz, the 22-year-old right-hander from Cypress, Texas, made four rehab starts in Triple-A Durham and allowed only two runs in 13 innings (a 1.38 ERA). In his final rehab start last Sunday, he recorded 10 strikeouts in just 4 1/3 innings, and everyone declared him good to go.
The bad inning put a huge damper on the day, because Rays hitters had success against six different Twins pitchers. They were all over starter Chi Chi Gonzalez in the first, getting three runs thanks to consecutive singles by Manuel Margot, Randy Arozarena, Ji-Man Choi and Yandy Diaz.
The Rays cut the lead to 5-4 in the sixth inning when shortstop Taylor Walls doubled with two outs and scored on a single by pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez.
The Twins added a much-needed insurance run in the bottom of the inning off of Tampa Bay reliever Ryan Thompson. Minnesota center field Gilberto Celestino doubled to lead off the inning and went to third on a ground out. He tried to score on a ground ball to Walls at short, but he got gunned down at the plate for the second out.
But Thompson couldn't close the door. He gave up singles to Arraez and Polanco and the Twins were back up by two at 6-4.
The Rays made it 6-5 in the seventh when Kevin Kiermaier doubled and scored when Margot was safe at first on a throwing error by Twins shortstop Nick Gordon. But they couldn't put anything else together. Arozarena fouled out and Choi flied out to center to end the threat.
'They got a leadoff single from Diaz to open the eighth, but then made six straight outs to end the game.
The Rays are now just 1-4 against the Twins this season, who are leading the American League Central division with a 35-26 record, four games better than the Cleveland Guardians. The Rays are 34-25, in third place in the AL East and a season-high nine games behind the New York Yankees.
The two teams meet for the final time in the regular season on Sunday. Jeffrey Springs (2-2, 1.62 ERA) will pitch for Tampa Bay. He'll be opposed by Cole Sands, who's 0-2 with an 8.49 earned run average.
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