Inside The Twins

Missed call on Mookie Betts hurts Twins in heartbreaker vs. Dodgers

The Twins should've won the game, but Mookie Betts was given a checked swing to stay alive.
Will Ragatz|
Mookie Betts was bailed out on this checked swing call in the Dodgers' win over the Twins.
Mookie Betts was bailed out on this checked swing call in the Dodgers' win over the Twins. | Twins.TV and @cjzero on X

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Minnesota Twins

A missed call with Mookie Betts at the plate in the ninth inning played a role in the Twins' heartbreaking walkoff loss against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

The Twins had a 3-2 lead and were looking to close out what would've been their first-ever series victory at Dodger Stadium. Because Jhoan Duran had pitched two innings to finish Tuesday's win, it was Griffin Jax on the mound in a save situation. Jax got the first two outs on four pitches, bringing Betts to the plate.

On a 1-2 count, Betts very clearly went around with his swing on a sweeper just outside the zone. Except when the appeal was made to first-base umpire Emil Jimenez, he ruled that Betts had checked his swing. It's not a reviewable play.

Two pitches later, Betts beat out an infield single to the left side to extend the game. The Twins chose to intentionally walk Shohei Ohtani, who had already homered for the fifth consecutive game back in the first inning. Jax then walked Esteury Ruiz on five pitches (for which he deserves his fair share of the blame). That brought up Freddie Freeman, whose line drive to left hit off of Harrison Bader's glove and fell to the ground for a walkoff two-run single.

It was a brutal, gut-punch of a loss for the Twins — and one that wouldn't have happened if Jimenez had seen that Betts' bat blatantly crossed the zone on his checked swing attempt. Instead of 50-52 with the momentum of a series win over the Dodgers, the Twins fell back to 49-53 after perhaps their most heartbreaking defeat of the season.

Chris Paddack gave up Ohtani's 37th homer of the year on an 0-2 curveball in the first inning, but he settled in after that. Paddack wound up going 6 excellent innings, allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

Royce Lewis also stayed hot for the Twins. He homered off Tyler Glasnow in the third inning to tie the game, then later doubled in the fifth. That gave Lewis seven hits, six RBI, and three homers over the past four games. He had two of just three Twins hits against Glasnow, who struck out 12 over seven dominant frames.

The Dodgers took the lead in the bottom of the seventh off of Twins relievers Danny Coulombe and Louis Varland, but Minnesota responded in the top of the eighth. The Twins' first three batters of the inning walked, and they tied the game when Willi Castro bounced into a double play on the first pitch he saw with the bases loaded and no outs. Bader then gave the Twins the lead on a chopper over Alex Vesia's head that scored Brooks Lee.

Brock Stewart escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth. But Jax — in part due to Jimenez's missed call — couldn't do the same in the ninth.

The Twins are off Thursday before returning home this weekend to face the Nationals.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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