That Wild Balk Call Just Absolutely Gutted the Twins, And Their Bullpen is Still The League's Worst

The Twins' bullpen already holds the dubious honor of having the highest ERA in baseball, and tonight's 4-3 loss to the Angels just twisted the knife, especially with that wild balk call in the fourth inning. Man, what a brutal finish.

Zebby's Grind and Early Small Ball Hopes

Zebulon Matthews was out there grinding from the jump, throwing 24 pitches in the first inning alone and pushing it to 42 by the second. Dude usually gives them more than six innings per start, so you're watching that pitch count like a hawk, especially with the bullpen's issues. But hey, the Twins came out swinging in the first, with Trevor Larnach blasting a leadoff double. Ryan Jeffers moved him over with a flyout, and Kody Clemens pulled off some sweet small ball with another flyout to score Larnach, putting the Twins up 1-0. Josh Bell even smacked a double, but that was it for the early rally.

When Everything Went Sideways: Balks and Loaded Bases

Things got squirrely fast for the Twins. In the third, Zebby walked Zach Neto, the Angels' fastest runner, on four pitches with two outs. Then in the fourth, that's where the wheels really started to come off. Angels kicked it off with a leadoff homer, then a double. A groundout moved the runner to third, and then, BAM, a balk scores him! Just like that, the Halos were up 2-1. That balk rule, man, it always feels a bit weird when it happens like that, especially with nobody even trying to steal home anymore. The Angels piled it on in the fifth. Wayne Meckler singled to lead off, then Royce Lewis bunted it badly, and somehow, everybody was safe. A "duck fart" single loaded the bases with nobody out! Nolan Schanuel singled, keeping the bases juiced, still no outs. They managed to get an RBI flyout to right, then a 1-4-3 got them out of it, but seriously, it could've been so much worse. Tristan Grey got a leadoff single later, but nothing came of it. And Grayson Rodriguez, who came into this game sporting an 8.06 ERA, well, the Twins sure made that look better tonight. I

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.