MINNEAPOLIS — The biggest regular-season crowd in Target Field history took in Saturday night’s contest, but the Minnesota Twins asked Carlos Correa to stay home.
Several days after he received a platelet-rich plasma in his right heel, the Twins placed their All-Star shortstop on the 10-day injured list with plantar fasciitis and ordered him to stay off his feet.
The move was made retroactive to Tuesday, which means Correa is out of action at least through Thursday. How long the Twins will restrict Correa to his couch is to be determined, though backdating the move suggests they don’t expect this to be an extended absence.
Saturday, Correa’s teammates struggled late without his defensive presence in an 8-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in 12 innings despite an outstanding showing from Pablo López in front of 41,679 fans.
López continued a stretch of strong starts, striking out seven and limiting Milwaukee to a run and four hits over seven innings.
“(Correa is) going to be in a boot for a couple days,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Once he starts baseball activity, then we’ll have a timeline. We don’t necessarily have a timeline right now. We don’t think it’s going to be several weeks to a month. We think it’s going to be shorter than that. But we don’t have anything specific.”
Correa missed his first game the previous Saturday and learned later that evening he was dealing with another case of plantar fasciitis, though the current one is in the opposite foot from last season and an MRI determined it’s not as severe.
Speaking Sunday, Correa thought the eight-day window would be enough to get him ready for Saturday’s contest against the Brewers. Yet in between, the team determined the best course of action was a PRP injection, which typically comes with a mandatory rest period, one that the Twins aren’t yet defining.
“I don’t want to get stupid and push it,” said Correa, who went to Texas for his third All-Star Game but was removed from the roster late Sunday for an injury replacement. “We know how bad it can get (from) last year.”
In their third straight game without Correa, the Twins’ defense struggled late.
With the score tied at 1, second baseman Austin Martin double-clutched on a grounder hit directly at him with the infield in, and his throw home to get the go-ahead run was late.
After Carlos Santana improbably extended the game in the bottom of the 11th with a two-run homer on a two-strike, two-out pitch from Jakob Junis, the Twins produced an even worse inning in the field in the 12th.
All-Star Willi Castro, who’s expected to play shortstop in Correa’s absence, took a circuitous route on Blake Perkins’ inning-opening grounder, which allowed him to reach safely. Things only got worse as neither reliever Steven Okert nor third baseman Brooks Lee caught Jake Bauers’ popped-up bunt. On the play, Lee retreated to the base in case there was a force out while Okert made an ill-advised decision to touch the ball in fair territory before it rolled foul, which loaded the bases with no outs.
Then all hell broke loose.
Joey Ortiz hit a go-ahead sac fly, Jackson Chourio singled in a run, Brice Turang singled in two more and William Contreras singled in a run to put Milwaukee ahead by five runs.
“We did not execute and play well fundamentally late in the game, and that can lead to losing the game,” Baldelli said. “It is the big leagues, and every play matters. Sometimes one or two or three plays does lead to the outcome that you want or you don’t want. I was happy with the way we fought on, but we’ve got to make the plays if we expect to win.”
Both teams had difficulty scoring before extra innings.
Chourio singled in a run in the third inning, but it was the only time the Brewers cashed in against López. Though López didn’t rack up swings-and-misses, he was very good nonetheless. López limited hard contact and allowed more than one Milwaukee batter to reach base in the same inning only once.
Over his last five starts, López has a 2.90 ERA with 22 hits, six walks and 41 strikeouts in 31 innings.
“I was definitely anxious to get back on the back and feel everything I’ve been working on the mound,” López said. “Good movement, good flow, let things flow and happen naturally on the mound. Just trusting my natural ability. So I was really happy with the way it went.”
SLAMTANAAAAAA
WE ARE TIED AT 3 IN THE 11TH pic.twitter.com/R3DiEVQopW
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) July 21, 2024
Still, López exited with the Twins trailing by a run.
They tied it in the eighth inning as Castro doubled with one out, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Diego A. Castillo’s RBI fielder’s choice. But that was it for the Twins until Santana struck in the 11th.
Here’s a look at the rest of a very active Twins injury front.
• Royce Lewis was his usual optimistic self before the series opener, indicating that his strained right adductor feels good enough to return to the lineup.
Out since July 2, he resumed running and hitting during the All-Star break and took pregame batting practice Saturday. Lewis is in line to go on a brief minor-league rehab assignment next week to test his readiness.
“If it was the playoffs, or if they’d let me, I’d definitely be out there,” Lewis said. “I feel that good. … I’m ready to go whenever. I’m just waiting for approval, and I think they’re doing what’s best.”
• Jose Miranda won’t be ready to come off the injured list when eligible Sunday, but he’s close to returning from a lower-back strain and could potentially do so without going on a minor-league rehab assignment.
“He’s shown good improvement,” Baldelli said. “He’s not feeling like he was the day in San Francisco when he originally was dealing with it.”
• Chris Paddack’s return to the rotation lasted just two starts, as he was placed back on the injured list Saturday with a right forearm strain.
Previously given a two-week break in late June for what the Twins called shoulder fatigue, Paddack experienced elbow tightness after throwing during the All-Star break.
“It doesn’t seem like anything major, to be honest,” Baldelli said. “His elbow seems fine, the ligament seems fine, everything seems fine. There’s some sign, I believe, that it’s some sort of muscle strain and should heal up OK.”
Paddack’s injury leaves a hole in the rotation Wednesday versus the Philadelphia Phillies. In the meantime, the Twins added an extra position player and will make a move to call up a starter from Triple-A St. Paul — perhaps David Festa or Louie Varland — after Tuesday’s game, giving them more short-term roster flexibility.
Even a minimum 15-day stay on the IL would sideline Paddack through the July 30 trade deadline, seemingly increasing their motivation to pursue a veteran starter to boost a rotation that ranks 24th out of 30 teams with a 4.52 ERA. Paddack’s return from a second Tommy John surgery has been a mixed bag, with a handful of very impressive outings but a 4.99 ERA overall.
• Brock Stewart is progressing toward a return to the Twins bullpen after being out since early May with right-shoulder tendinitis.
Stewart made his first minor-league rehab appearance Friday at Triple-A St. Paul, throwing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts while averaging 94.8 mph with his fastball. He’s expected to make at least one more appearance for the Saints and, barring a setback, could be cleared to come off the IL at some point next week.
Jorge Alcalá and Cole Sands have stepped up in his extended absence, pitching well in higher-leverage roles, but a healthy Stewart could dramatically improve the Twins’ late-inning weapons. Stewart posted a 0.68 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings this season before going on the IL, and had a 0.65 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings between injuries last season.
• Byron Buxton, who missed the final two games of the first half with a sore elbow after running into the outfield wall in San Francisco on July 12, returned to action Saturday. Batting third in the Twins’ depleted lineup, he went 0-for-4 with two walks.
(Photo of Milwaukee’s Joseph Ortiz scoring past Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers as umpire Sean Barber watches: Bruce Kluckhohn / Associated Press)
