The Minnesota Twins made a few moves at the MLB trade deadline, in what should help them compete for the AL Central division title for the third time in four years. They’ve won three of five since the deadline, but had a chance to win another on Sunday afternoon before getting screwed by the umpires, as Twins manager Rocco Baldelli would tell it.
But he’s right. Anyone who saw the play involving the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field would likely agree.
The game had already gone to extra innings, where in the top of the 10th inning, the Jays sent Whit Merrifield home to take the lead. With Twins outfielder Tim Beckham firing a laser to home plate where catcher Gary Sanchez was ready to tag Merrifield as he crossed the plate. It appeared to be a successful tag, but that wasn’t the ruling.
Instead after replay review, umpires reversed the call, stating that Sanchez had blocked the plate, preventing Merrifield from having a clear path to touch home.
Here’s the play. You be the judge.
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Rocco Baldelli as fired up as ever
As you can imagine, with the game on the line and both teams vying for a playoff spot, tensions were already high. The call getting overturned sent Twins manager Rocco Baldelli fuming out onto the diamond, where he was intent on getting ejected. And he accomplished his goal.
After the game, once Baldelli had a brief moment to reflect and maybe cool down, he instead turned the heat back up on the MLB offices, clearly upset with the call, calling it “chickenshit“.
“It’s one of the worst moments I think we’ve seen of umpiring, in any game I’ve ever been a part of in baseball. I think it was pathetic.”
Rocco Baldelli after the Twins loss
Clearly Baldelli and his team wasn’t pleased with the outcome, but it won’t change the decision. The Twins moved to 57-51 on the season and have a two-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
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