Slumping Twins lose 4-1 to Marlins, and frustration is clear

MINNEAPOLIS — Bailey Ober walked to the dugout with his head down following the second inning Tuesday, loosely holding his glove in his right hand, and he didn’t notice a teammate offering a cursory high-five as he strode down the dugout stairs.

In the final week of the season, facing the National League’s worst team with the Twins sitting outside the playoff picture for the first time since May, Ober surrendered four runs in the second inning and the offense continued its horrid slump in a 4-1 loss to the Miami Marlins at Target Field.

The Twins, on the verge of completing an epic September collapse, dropped two games behind Kansas City and Detroit for the final two wild-card spots with five games left in their season. The Tigers won before the Twins started batting practice, and the Royals won in extra innings.

Frustration from Twins players was obvious. Ryan Jeffers spiked his bat into the ground when he hit an infield pop-up with two runners on base in the eighth inning, then slammed his helmet on the dugout bench. Ober often shook his head.

Watching a playoff spot slip out grasp, the Twins have averaged 2.75 runs over their last eight games. They’ve posted a .218 batting average in September, and they haven’t hit a homer in their last 60 innings.

Ober allowed eight hits, his highest total in four months, and two walks in five innings. It was just the second time he didn’t pitch at least six innings in his last 17 starts.

Jonah Bride opened the scoring in a disastrous second inning for Ober when he crushed an elevated fastball to the second deck in left field for a solo homer. Early home runs have been a weakness for Ober in an otherwise solid season. He’s yielded 26 homers this season, and 17 have been in the first two innings.

With two outs in the second inning, Ober hit Derek Hill with an errant changeup and watched Otto Lopez bloop a single next to the right field line. Nick Fortes, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup for the 99-loss Marlins, followed with an RBI single when he lined a first-pitch fastball to right field.

On Ober’s next pitch, a cutter, Xavier Edwards lofted a two-run double to the left field wall for a four-run lead. The Twins haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since Sept. 15. Ober shook his head as he walked from behind the plate back to the mound.

Ober, who threw more changeups than fastballs, left two runners on base in the third inning and two more in the fifth. He was removed after issuing a walk to begin the sixth inning. When Ober sat on the dugout bench, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he stared at the ground.

A four-run deficit was too much for a Twins offense that left 10 men on base and produced one hit in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

The Twins put two runners on base in four of their five innings against Marlins lefty Ryan Weathers, and it led to only one run. Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton were stranded in the first inning when Carlos Santana flew out to center and Royce Lewis lined out to right. Manuel Margot struck out with runners on first and second base in the second inning.

After Buxton reached on an infield single in the third inning, and Santana followed with a walk, Lewis hit an RBI single through the left side of the infield. The rally fizzled two pitches later when Kyle Farmer grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Correa and Buxton delivered back-to-back hits in the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third as Weathers’ pitch count inched higher. Santana fouled out to third base and Lewis ended the inning with a groundout.

The Marlins earned their third victory in their last 10 games when Correa ended the game watching a called third strike.

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