Rocco Baldelli ejected as Twins fall to Royals to stumble to 3-7 start to season

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Trailing by three runs in the eighth inning Monday, Matt Wallner hoped he could start a rally when he drew a leadoff walk against Kansas City Royals reliever Lucas Erceg.

Instead, like much of the season, little went right afterward.

Carlos Correa battled in a 12-pitch at-bat, fouling six pitches, before he struck out on a 98.5-mph fastball at the top of the strike zone. Two pitches later, Wallner saw a ball in the dirt and took off for second base. The ball bounced up, hit batter Byron Buxton in the face, and dropped in front of the plate to give Royals catcher Salvador Perez the opportunity to throw out Wallner.

The rally was killed, and in a game manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected, the Twins lost 4-2 in their series opener to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

With a 3-7 record, the Twins are off to their worst start through 10 games since they went 1-9 to begin the 2016 season.

“Last year was more or less the same exact way to start the year,” Wallner said, referencing the Twins’ 7-13 start to the 2024 season. “If anything, guys are kind of engaging a little bit more with each other and trying to figure out what’s going on without panicking.”

Frustration boiled over in the sixth inning when Baldelli was ejected for the first time this year.

One batter after Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson gave up a solo homer to No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel, plate umpire Nic Lentz called a pitch clock violation on Woods Richardson before his full count pitch to Jonathan India. The violation granted India a walk.

Woods Richardson said he stepped off the rubber with 7 seconds on the pitch clock when he couldn’t hear the PitchCom device in his cap. Catcher Christian Vázquez repeatedly jammed the button, allowing Woods Richardson to finally hear what pitch was called. Woods Richardson tried to start his windup with 2 seconds left on the clock, but Lentz raised his hands.

Lentz “deemed the sequence an attempted circumvention of the pitch timer regulations by the pitcher,” Major League Baseball said in a statement. “Disengaging while gesturing about a potential PitchCom issue, and then re-engaging late in an attempt to deliver a pitch prior to the expiration of the pitch timer, did not allow the hitter the ability to remain alert and ready.”

Baldelli wagged his finger and stormed out of the dugout, stepping in front of Vázquez, who was already arguing with Lentz. Baldelli was ejected for the 15th time in his career during a prolonged conversation with Lentz and crew chief Vic Carapazza. Baldelli kicked home plate as he returned to the dugout, then flung lineup cards onto the field as he walked down the stairs toward the visiting clubhouse.

“The umpire could have remedied the situation in a number of ways but instead made Sim get back on the mound and pitch, and then banged him for a violation, which hadn’t even occurred yet,” Baldelli said. “It didn’t make sense. ... Simeon was on his 107th pitch of the outing. He’s clearly not out there trying to manipulate the pitch clock or anything.”

BOXSCORE: Kansas City 4, Twins 2

MLB standings

Woods Richardson gave up eight hits and four runs in 5⅔ innings, only the second time a Twins starter recorded an out in the sixth inning this year. He threw a career-high 107 pitches, helping a bullpen that was taxed over the previous two games.

He wasn’t sharp in the early innings, but neither was the Twins defense. On his third pitch, Buxton failed to secure a line drive from India, the ball deflecting off his glove, before the center fielder crashed into the wall with his left shoulder.

Two batters later, Vinnie Pasquantino dropped a fly ball into shallow left field, and the ball skipped past Harrison Bader, who tried to barehand the ball after it bounced. India scored after briefly stopping at third base.

“We’ve got to come together,” Baldelli said. “Yes, it’s early, but we need to play better.”

The Twins produced three hits in the second inning and combined for four hits in the other eight. Willi Castro hit a two-out RBI double in the second inning, but the Twins didn’t score again until Bader hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth. With Bader on as the tying run, pinch hitter Edouard Julien grounded out to end the game.

Wallner reached base three times, but the middle of the Twins lineup — Correa, Buxton and Trevor Larnach — went hitless in a combined 12 at-bats.

“I think we’re really close,” Wallner said. “A prime example is Correa. Obviously, he’s not hitting the way that he would want to be. He battled Erceg, a guy throwing 100 mph with good offspeed. It’s not that he’s looking like an idiot out there. He’s having good at-bats. We’re going to string it together.”