Twins' playoff hopes continue to tumble with loss to Marlins

Miami used a four-run second inning to power its way past Minnesota Tuesday night.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) pitches to the Miami Marlins in the first inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sept. 24, 2024. / Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Marlins that the time for talk had run out. The Twins simply needed to go out and get it done on the field.

But for the third straight game, the Twins weren’t able to get it done, falling to the Marlins 4-1 in front of a crowd of 21,983 and some dogs for “Bark in the Park” Tuesday at Target Field in Minneapolis. It’s their eighth loss in their last 11 games and puts them in precarious position for the postseason. 

The Twins (81-76) are now two games back of both the Kansas City Royals, who beat the Washington Nationals in 10 innings Tuesday night, and the Detroit Tigers, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday, for the final two American League wild-card spots. They do hold the tiebreakers over both teams.

But time to make up ground is at a minimum with just five regular-season games remaining.

Tuesday’s loss started and ended with a four-run second inning for the Marlins (58-99). Twins starter Bailey Ober pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, but gave up a 409-foot solo homer to Jonah Bride in the second, and despite getting to two outs, things started to snowball a couple at-bats later.

Otto Lopez hit a two-out single, advancing Derek Hill — who was hit by a pitch — to third base, and Nick Fortes hit an RBI single to score Hill. Xavier Edwards followed up with a two-run double to left field that gave Miami a 4-0 lead, with the latter three of those runs coming with two outs. 

Ober battled his way back and got through five innings, fanning seven without giving up any more runs, but the Twins offense didn’t do him many favors. The Twins got on the board in the third inning when Royce Lewis hit an RBI single, scoring Byron Buxton, who reached on an infield single. 

But other opportunities went to waste. In the fifth inning, Carlos Correa singled and Buxton doubled the next at-bat to get runners at second and third with one out. But Carlos Santana fouled out to third base the next at-bat, and Lewis hit a chopper to third after that as the threat quickly disappeared.

Marlins starter Ryan Weathers gave up six hits but allowed just one run and fanned two across five innings, improving to 4-6 on the season with the victory. Ober fell to 12-8 on the year with the loss. 

Overall, the Twins left 10 on base and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. 

It simply was not the performance a team in a last-minute playoff push was looking for in the final stretch of the regular season. The Twins only have five games left, and the margin of error is paper thin. Up next is a rematch with the Marlins at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday back at Target Field.