The Minnesota Twins had a comeback right in front of them. Then they gave it away on the basepaths in the worst possible way.
Down 6-2 in the ninth at Wrigley Field on Saturday, the Twins had runners on first and second with nobody out. That is the setup. That is the opening. What happened next was one of the ugliest baserunning sequences of the 2026 MLB season.
Brooks Lee hit a shallow liner to center. Pete Crow-Armstrong dropped it. Chaos followed.
Victor Caratini, the trailing runner, was already sprinting like the ball had cleared the wall. Josh Bell, the lead runner, was caught between third and home. Lee, the batter, thought he was on his way to second. And Crow-Armstrong just had to pick the ball up and throw.
Bell got tagged out trying to retreat to third. Lee got thrown out trying to retreat to first. Kody Clemens then struck out to end the game. Final score: 6-2, the same as it started the inning.
This was not one player messing up. This was three separate mistakes stacked on top of each other. Caratini running too early. Bell freezing when he should have been reading the play. Lee lollygagging after his own hit. Every single Twin on the field made the wrong choice, and they made it in about six seconds.
You cannot coach that. You also cannot survive it. Minnesota is trying to hold on in the AL Central race, and games like this are how playoff spots slip away.
The Twins have a history with this stuff too. Last season they demoted Jose Miranda to Triple-A after a similar mental gaffe on the bases. There is a pattern here, and it is not accidental.
Rocco Baldelli’s staff runs a fundamentals first program on paper. In reality, the Twins have been sloppy for two straight years on the little things: baserunning, cut offs, communication in the outfield. Saturday was the boiling point.
Rob Manfred should send Ruben Rivera a residual check. Rivera’s infamous 1996 baserunning blooper had a long run as the gold standard. This one is right there.
The Cubs will take the win, and Pete Crow-Armstrong will take the highlight. Chicago has been surging, and they moved into a favorable position in the NL Central thanks in part to Minnesota beating themselves.
For the Twins, this is the moment to have a real conversation in the clubhouse. A team with playoff hopes cannot lose games this way in July. If Baldelli does not react, someone in the front office will react for him.
Josh Bell has been a professional hitter for a decade. He should not be freezing on the basepaths. Caratini is a veteran catcher. He should not be running like it is a Little League World Series highlight. Lee is a young player, and he can be forgiven, but only if the veterans set a better example.
The good news for Minnesota fans: this is exactly the kind of loss that motivates a team if leadership handles it correctly. The bad news: the Twins do not always handle it correctly. Watch what happens next.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
