Twins open homestand with loss to Blue Jays as Ryan Jeffers ejected after critical call

Ryan Jeffers, pinch hitting with two runners on base and none out in the eighth inning Friday, reached to take off his elbow guard after watching a full-count pitch. When plate umpire Jordan Baker rang him up for a called third strike, he nearly slammed his bat.

Jeffers continued to protest the low strike call as he started walking toward the dugout, and Baker tossed him out of the game, earning Jeffers his first career ejection.

In a three-run game, the Twins missed their opportunity to load the bases with no outs. Royce Lewis followed two batters later with an RBI single, but the Twins’ rally fell short in a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field.

“He’s unhappy with the call, rightfully so, and that’s part of the game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a close pitch. It looks like a ball. It would give us bases loaded with nobody out. We’re having great at-bats, and their pitcher is scattering the ball all over the strike zone. You want to get that call, and we didn’t get the call today.”

The Twins weren’t without their faults, losing for only the third time in their past 15 home games. Bailey Ober was supplied with an early three-run lead, but he felt like his pitching mechanics were out of whack. He gave up five runs on five hits and one walk in seven innings.

It was the first time he’s allowed more than three runs in a start since his disastrous season debut.

“My stuff kind of diminished after the third inning,” said Ober, who averaged 89 mph on his fastball, more than a 2 mph drop from where he was last year. “[Velocity] dropped and the margin for error was tighter just because I wasn’t able to have my best stuff.”

Pitching with a one-run lead in the fifth inning, Ober yielded a leadoff single to Ernie Clement. Two batters later, Andrés Giménez lofted a fly ball toward the right-field wall. Twins right fielder Matt Wallner, playing in his first home game since April 15 because of a stint on the injured list, misjudged how close he was to the wall and watched the ball drop a few feet over his head for a double.

The Twins drew in their infielders with runners on second and third, one out, and a one-run lead. Bo Bichette responded with a two-run bloop single into shallow center field, connecting on a pitch that was well off the plate. Ober bent at the waist as Giménez easily scored from second base.

“That’s a good pitch,” Ober said. “It’s just one of those things. He hit it and didn’t hit it hard enough or he didn’t hit it soft enough, just that little perfect bloop single right over the infield.”

Ober, who carried a 2.43 ERA over his previous 11 starts, yielded only one baserunner through the first three innings. To begin the fourth, he hit Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a sinker that ran too far inside. Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger bashed the next pitch, an elevated 88-mph fastball, over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.

George Springer added a solo homer off Ober in the sixth inning.

Twins hitters knew they would receive probably one at-bat against Blue Jays righthander Paxton Schultz in a bullpen game, and they attempted to make the most of it.

Trevor Larnach hammered a 421-foot solo homer the second deck in right field in the first inning, his 10th home run of the season. Larnach held the finish of his swing for a couple of moments before peeking at his teammates in the dugout.

The Twins started the second inning with two runners in scoring position and none out. Brooks Lee led off with a line-drive single, the ball deflecting off the glove of a leaping Guerrero at first base, to end a nine-pitch at-bat. Lewis, who reached base in all four of his plate appearances, followed with a double to the wall in left-center field.

Lee scored on a groundout before Christian Vázquez delivered a two-out RBI single that hit the top of the left-field wall. Schultz gave up four hits and three runs against the 10 batters he faced.

BOXSCORE: Toronto 6, Twins 4

MLB standings

After Lauer entered for the third inning, the Twins didn’t have another baserunner reach second base until the eighth. Larnach drew a walk against lefty Brandon Little and Ty France followed with a single to right field.

Jeffers was called out on strikes, and Brooks Lee struck out on a curveball in the dirt. After Lewis dropped an RBI single to center in a seven-pitch at-bat, Little escaped with the tying run at first base with a groundout.