Perhaps no play better represents the Minnesota Twins' recent collapse than catcher Ryan Jeffers's bunt attempt in the bottom of the 12 inning Thursday night at Target Field.
With the game tied 5–5 and the winning run standing on second base, Jeffers tried to bunt but instead popped out to Miami Marlins first baseman Jonah Bride. Even worse, Bride caught Twins veteran Carlos Santana too far off second base and doubled him up for the second out of the inning.
Play-by-play announcer Cory Provus had seen enough on the Bally Sports North broadcast.
"Double play," he said. "Come on guys, that can't happen. Can not happen!"
this team is so aggravating, you cannot get doubled on a popup bunt pic.twitter.com/fkaTtM3pmI
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 27, 2024
The Twins would go on to lose to the Marlins, 8–6, in 13 innings. They left the winning run on base in the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th innings and were 2-for-19 as a team with runners in scoring position, continuing an unfortunate trend of losing baseball in Minneapolis.
Provus's call perfectly represented the frustration of the Twins' fan base over the past six weeks.
On Aug. 17, the Twins beat the Texas Rangers 5–2 to improve to 70–53 on the season. At the time, per Fangraphs, Minnesota had a 92.4% chance to make the playoffs and was just two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the AL Central.
Minnesota went on to lose 24 of its next 36 games and now is all but officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Entering Friday's slate of games, the Twins are three games behind the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals for the American League's final two wild-card spots. To make the playoffs, the Twins need to sweep the Baltimore Orioles this weekend combined with the Atlanta Braves sweeping the Royals and the Tigers getting swept by the lowly Chicago White Sox.
After that colossal collapse, Fangraphs now gives the Twins a 3% chance of making the playoffs heading into the final weekend of the 2024 regular season. And that might even be a bit generous.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Twins Announcer Sounded Absolutely Fed Up on Call of Failed Bunt in Extra-Inning Loss.
