Twins Report: Vazquez takes responsibility for manager’s ejection Monday

KANSAS CITY Mo After further review maybe the Twins didn t do everything feasible to avoid a pitch-clock violation in the series opener Monday night Instead of rushing right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson into throwing a pitch with time running out after the PitchCom glitched out catcher Christian V zquez informed the Pioneer Press on Tuesday he should have called for a mound visit instead Doing so would have paused Jonathan India s at-bat with a - count and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and given umpire Nic Lentz no reason to issue an automatic ball call The call resulted in a walk to India and sparked an argument with manager Rocco Baldelli that included his first ejection of the season and th of his career India was stranded at first when reliever Scott Blewett retired the next batter Twins fell - dropping their record to - Woods Richardson tapped his head as if to say he couldn t hear a signal with about seconds on the pitch clock He also disengaged the rubber commonly understood as a pitcher s way to call time but Lentz didn t stop play The next move likely belonged to V zquez I was thinking about that last night after the battle V zquez stated Maybe if this happens again burn a mound visit It was - not - when it s not as bad to lose a pitch V zquez Woods Richardson and Baldelli asserted that Lentz should have granted time with seconds left and the manager revealed his mind hadn t changed on Tuesday The more I reflect the more I come back to the fact that I don t think that any call possibly should have been made there Baldelli declared And if there was any issue with a hitter or the pitcher or even the umpire being thrown off by what was going on out there the resolution is almost constantly just to reset the clock and to let the players play and let the pitch be thrown Buck trucked Byron Buxton regretted not catching India s first-inning leadoff double on Monday Buxton ran a long way to track it down in left-center but explained he apparently took his eyes off the ball at the last moment as he braced himself for impact with the wall He had it in his glove but couldn t hold on after crashing But that s no excuse Buxton declared I ve made that play enough times to know I should have caught it Baldelli mentioned Buxton played it the right way and will make the play majority times He s also one of the harder guys outwardly emotionally on himself of any guy that I ve ever managed Baldelli reported I m never surprised to hear that he s angry when he doesn t make a play I m consistently expecting it He makes the greater part of the plays to say the least India hit the ball an estimated feet per MLB Statcast and the ball had an expected batting average of I was a little bit more worried about staying on the field rather than making the play explained Buxton who has missed his share of games because of injury But as an outfielder and who I am and how I was raised if it touches the glove you ve got to catch it Buxton has had harder crashes but it still felt jarring Me taking my eyes off the ball allowed me to slow down a limited actions before I did hit it as hard as I did he commented Younger me was going on the IL I m in the lineup nowadays Twins add left-hander The Twins have signed free-agent left-hander Richard Lovelady and assigned to Triple-A St Paul Lovelady has six seasons of MLB experience and pitched in two games this season for the Toronto Blue Jays after making their Opening Day roster He elected free agency after the Blue Jays tried sending him to Triple-A but Lovelady s three seasons of function time allowed him the decision to leave He owns a ERA with strikeouts walks and home runs allowed and in career innings He s also played with the Royals Rays Athletics and Cubs since Related Articles Moving past collapse Twins enter new season with positive outlook After breakout rookie season Simeon Woods Richardson looks to win rotation spot Twins send veterans on a rare road trip just for two innings Twins major leaguers getting first experience with pitch challenge system Twins making spring training tweaks after late-season collapse