Twins’ playoff hopes continue to fade after loss to Marlins

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before Tuesday night’s game against the Miami Marlins that the time for talking was over. The Twins just had to go out and get it done on the field.

But for the third year in a row, the Twins failed to make it, losing 4-1 to the Marlins on Tuesday in front of 21,983 fans and a few dogs at Bark in the Park at Target Field in Minneapolis. It’s their eighth loss in their last 11 games and puts them in a precarious position for the postseason.

The Twins (81-76) now sit two games behind the Kansas City Royals, who beat the Washington Nationals in 10 innings on Tuesday night, and the Detroit Tigers, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, for the American League’s final two wild-card spots. They have the tiebreakers over both teams.

However, with only five games of the regular season remaining, there is little time left to catch up.

Tuesday’s loss began and ended with a four-run second inning for the Marlins (58-99). Twins starter Bailey Ober pitched 1-2-3 in the first inning but allowed a 409-foot solo home run by Jonah Bride in the second, and although he got two outs, an avalanche came a few at-bats later.

Otto Lopez hit a single with two outs that advanced Derek Hill — who was hit by a pitch — to third base, and Nick Fortes hit an RBI single that scored Hill. Xavier Edwards followed with a two-run double to left field that gave Miami a 4-0 lead, with the last three of those runs coming with two outs.

Ober battled back and managed five innings, scoring seven runs without allowing any more, but the Twins offense did him no favors. The Twins got on the scoreboard in the third inning when Royce Lewis hit an RBI single and scored Byron Buxton, who came on with an infield single.

Other chances were lost, however. In the fifth inning, Carlos Correa hit a single and Buxton hit a double in the next at-bat, putting runners on second and third base with one out. But Carlos Santana fouled out to third base in the next at-bat and Lewis then hit a chopper to third base, quickly ending the danger.

Marlins starter Ryan Weathers allowed six hits but allowed just one run and struck out two runs in five innings. He improved his season record to 4-6 with the win. Ober fell to 12-8 with the loss.

Overall, the Twins left ten runners on base and managed 1 of 9 with runners in scoring position.

It just wasn’t the performance a team would have hoped for in the final moments of the regular season to stay in the playoffs. The Twins have just five games left and the margin for error is razor thin. Next up is a rematch against the Marlins at Target Field on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m.