MINNEAPOLIS — The losses are piling up, the manager’s answers are getting shorter, and the frustration is mounting. Yet as he took stock of the Minnesota Twins clubhouse after another tough loss Sunday afternoon, Byron Buxton didn’t see enough change in players’ attitudes to be overly concerned.
Like everyone else, Buxton was frustrated following a 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies — a game the Twins led by five runs.
But as the three-time All-Star surveyed the room, Buxton pointed out how players were continuing to act as they have all season.
“You don’t see us down in here,” Buxton said. “None of us has our head down. None of us is pouting. It’s baseball. Win some. Lose some.”
There’s plenty for the Twins to correct after another woeful day at Target Field. When ex-Twins closer Jhoan Duran struck out Buxton to end the game with two aboard, it signaled the disappointing completion of a series sweep of the Twins, who fell to 4-10 in August.
Somehow, this dismal stretch hasn’t yet sunk the Twins, who are still within shouting distance of the final spot in the American League wild-card race. But there’s also a recognition that the team must figure things out fast.
“Obviously, the ball ain’t going our way,” Buxton said. “Me personally, I don’t care if I’m coming back (from injury) or not, I’ve gotta hit the ball with runners in scoring position, help us out a little bit. But I don’t see anybody stressing in here.”
The mood was a bit more tense in the manager’s office.
A little more than a week ago, Derek Shelton lamented his team’s inability to move up in the standings as teams around the Twins struggled. After watching another starter’s outing evaporate Sunday — this time in just five batters — Shelton was terse during his postgame news conference.
“We got walked off twice in Seattle,” Shelton said. “We got walked off in Milwaukee. And we did not play well in the series. We didn’t play well at the Field of Dreams game. We went 1-for-14 (Saturday) with runners in scoring position. (Sunday), we got the lead and we were not able to add on and we did not hold. It’s very frustrating.”
A 5-0 lead built on a first-inning Brooks Lee grand slam and a Kody Clemens solo homer quickly crumbled in the sixth inning. To that point, starting pitcher Dean Kremer was outstanding, throwing 67 pitches and striking out six over five shutout innings.
But Kremer’s command disappeared in the sixth as Kyle Schwarber walked, Bryson Stott singled and Bryce Harper walked to load the bases. Luis Arraez’s RBI groundout made it a 5-1 game, then Alec Bohm belted a three-run homer.
“I should have been better there,” said Kremer. “But all in all, overall, positive first five innings and then it slipped away.”
The contest had a similar feel to the fifth inning Saturday, when southpaw Connor Prielipp issued three two-out walks, including two to lefties, and the Phillies put up a seven-spot to break open a close game. Asked if he thought about pulling Kremer before the Bohm homer Sunday, Shelton indicated he hadn’t.
“He was at 67 pitches and was in complete control,” Shelton said.
Philadelphia continued its comeback in the eighth inning with a series of great at-bats against rookie reliever Andrew Morris. After a one-out single by Harper, Arraez doubled off the glove of Austin Martin — a catchable ball in which the left fielder suffered a left hamstring strain.
Bohm then parachuted a fly ball down the right-field line for a game-tying single. Later in the inning, Bryan De La Cruz brought in two runs when he bounced an opposite-field single through to make it 7-5.
The Twins put together a one-out rally against Duran in the ninth, as Victor Caratini walked and rookie Kaelen Culpepper singled. Duran fell behind 3-1 in the count to pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers before battling back for a strikeout, then whiffed Buxton, too.
“You want to win every game, especially when you’re on the back end of this schedule,” Buxton said. “Every game now is a little bit more magnified. I think we do a good job of not letting that one big loss dictate what we do the next day. Going about our business, understanding what we need to do better, team-wise and individually, just to put us in better spots.”
More Twins thoughts after a disappointing finale
• Culpepper’s ninth-inning at-bat against Duran was maybe the best of his young career. After the rookie fell behind 1-2, he fouled off four of the next five pitches before following with a broken-bat single.
Short of learning about the speed of the game defensively in his Aug. 7 debut, Culpepper hasn’t looked out of place since he was promoted. He’ll undoubtedly need to reduce his strikeout rate, but Culpepper reached base twice more Sunday and is batting .250/.345/.417.
Kaelen Culpepper reacts to his broken-bat single against the Philadelphia Phillies during the ninth inning at Target Field. (Matt Krohn / Getty Images)
• Martin will need an MRI to evaluate his hamstring injury and could land on the 10-day injured list. Were Martin to wind up on the IL, the only right-handed hitting outfielder on the Twins’ 40-man is rookie Gabriel González, who debuted earlier this season but has a .720 OPS at Triple-A St. Paul. The Twins also have a series of left-handed hitting outfielders on the 40-man at St. Paul, a group that includes Matt Wallner, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Hendry Mendez.
• Morris spent a few minutes with assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez reviewing what he described as a frustrating outing.
The rookie has been outstanding for the Twins this season, accumulating a 3.39 ERA in 58 1/3 innings. His development lends hope to the idea the Twins have found a long-term setup man, at the very least. But Morris also is pitching more frequently than ever, and his strikeouts have recently decreased.
Only three times in his last nine appearances has Morris struck out a batter, posting four whiffs in 8 1/3 innings. None of this should come as a surprise. The rookie is adjusting to the physical toll of a long season, one he’s never known before.
“It’s frustrating for sure,” Morris said. “I felt good. I was executing. Balls were finding holes. Simple as that. … It’s a long season. Ups and downs. Just kind of riding the wave of it. We’ve got everything we need. Just put it together.”
• When the schedule came out, Duran circled his return to Target Field on the calendar. More than a year after he was traded, the pitcher acknowledged it was strange to be in the visiting clubhouse, but he was glad to be back. Duran received a good ovation Saturday after a pregame highlights package was played on the big screen.
“It’s really good, really good to be back,” Duran said. “A little sad too, because I am being on this side. … I remember when the schedule was out, I turned to my wife and said to her, ‘I want to go to Minnesota, I can’t wait for that.’”
