One of the stranger throwing errors in the majors this season by the Twins allowed Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani to walk home.
It probably wasn’t planned this way, but the Angels took advantage of a gifted first run on a bizarre throwing error by the Twins in the first inning of Saturday’s game.
After a one-out double by Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton followed up with an easy one-hopper to Minnesota shortstop Andrelton Simmons. The usually sure-handed Simmons tried to catch Ohtani creeping too far off of second base, but Ohtani managed to get back to second easily by the time Twins second baseman Jorge Polanco received the throw. Still with plenty of time to get Upton at first base, Polanco seemingly rushed his throw which Minnesota first baseman Miguel Sano barely budged.
The result was a throw out of play and Ohtani was given a free base and an easy run scored.
A bizarre defense error by the Twins gifted the Angels a run
That’s the kind of season it’s been for the underperforming Twins who sit 16.5 games out of first place and 13.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. Minnesota has already begun selling by trading slugger Nelson Cruz to the Rays this past week, the next Minnesota domino to fall could be the man on the mound for that defense blunder, Jose Berrios.