Twins come back, then fall to Mariners after Carlos Correa, Rocco Baldelli ejected

SEATTLE After what was almost assuredly their best win of the season on Friday the Twins followed it up on Saturday with what was almost assuredly their strangest event of the season If a fire alarm blaring and flashing lights throughout the ballpark delaying the challenge for minutes wasn t enough how about this Star shortstop Carlos Correa was ejected for the first time in his career and it happened from the on-deck circle The Twins saw their lead slip away late when J P Crawford blasted a two-run home run off reliever Jorge Alcala in the seventh inning but came back again with Trevor Larnach tying the championship up in the ninth inning for the second consecutive day Ultimately though after Griffin Jax stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and Jhoan Duran left a runner on third in the th the Twin ended up falling - to the Seattle Mariners when a run scored on a fielder s choice in a battle that was filled with drama on Saturday at T-Mobile Park The Mariners walk-off came after Kody Clemens fought through an -pitch at-bat to deliver a single into center in the top of the th but automatic runner Matt Wallner fresh off the injured list from a hamstring strain was thrown out trying to figure from second on a bullet from center fielder Julio Rodr guez Harrison Bader then grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the top of the th and the Twins were unable to convert in the th too Both Correa and manager Rocco Baldelli were not around to see the end of it after home plate umpire Austin Jones working in just his ninth event this season tossed the shortstop during the middle of a Brooks Lee at-bat in the seventh inning After the second straight borderline strike call of Lee s seventh-inning at-bat Jones and Correa began arguing As an animated Correa moved closer to home plate Baldelli sprung out of the dugout wedging himself between the athlete and umpire Three other members of the coaching staff came out to restrain Correa as Baldelli continued on with his argument eventually throwing his hat in anger The seventh inning went from bad to worse for the Twins who lost their star and then their lead Crawford got ahold of an Alcala fastball sending it off the scoreboard ribbon in right field and erasing a lead that the Twins had been protecting since the second inning when Wallner in his first major league at-bat since April smacked a two-run home run They added one more run in the inning when Willi Castro who hit two home runs on Friday and had three hits on Saturday drove in the Twins third run of the competition Minnesota held onto that lead for much of the championship though the Mariners chipped away an inning later when Cal Raleigh hit a two-run home run on a high fastball from Bailey Ober that was above the strike zone Ober s start ended in the fifth inning at pitches after he had allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach He was bailed out of that jam though as Louie Varland stepped up striking out Raleigh and Rodr guez before getting Randy Arozarena to fly out Arozarena would make a big play later in the competition catching a Clemens fly ball and then doubling Wallner off of second base helping squelch a anticipated Twins rally in the eighth inning But just like a night earlier there was selected more late-inning magic to be revealed for the Twins in the ninth Byron Buxton making things happen with his legs wound up on third base when reliever Carlos Vargas threw away a chopper that he should have eaten Larnach with the infield drawn in then tied the event up poking a single past diving second baseman Cole Young into right field But though they came back again they couldn t quite pull it off for the second straight night Related Articles Cory Franklin The lessons of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the MLB s rewriting of history Matt Wallner s return means Twins have nearly full group healthy Twins come back to oust Mariners in one of the best wins in new memory With concussion behind him Twins welcome back Byron Buxton Twins option Carson McCusker setting stage for bigger move Friday