The Minnesota Twins have hit a rough patch at the wrong time, and their manager got tossed in the middle of it.
Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Target Field was Minnesota's second straight one-run defeat, dropping the Twins to 11-10 on the season after a stretch where they had won eight of nine games.
The Reds improved to 13-8 and have quietly become one of the better teams in the National League.
Twins manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the top of the seventh inning after a check-swing call that went in favor of Elly De La Cruz, and the way it went down clearly bothered him.
With the Twins still up 4-2, reliever Kody Funderburk hit a batter to put two runners on with two outs.
MUST SEE: Twins manager Derek Shelton BLOWS UP on the umpires after being ejected for the second time this season! 🤬He had been barking at the 1B umpire for not calling a checked swing by Elly De La Cruz a strike.#MNTwins | #ATOBTTR | #MLB pic.twitter.com/h6939XuIGj
On a 1-1 pitch to De La Cruz, first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled that De La Cruz held up on his swing, giving him ball two.
Minnesota's dugout did not agree. One pitch later, De La Cruz lined an RBI single to make it 4-3, and seconds after the hit, home plate umpire Nic Lentz ejected Shelton.
After the game, Shelton said the ejection was a misunderstanding and that his frustration was aimed at the bench, not at any umpire.
"I'm pretty sure you were watching the game... it was a check swing... I argued the call," Shelton said. "I didn't have my head down when I made the comment I made and he evidently thought I was making the comment at him but I had my head down. I was not looking at any umpire after I made it... when I made the comment I made I had my head down. So I've been ejected a lot of times and in that one I was not directing anything at anything except frustration down at our bench."
It was Shelton's 18th career ejection and his second this season, after he was tossed in Baltimore on March 29 over an ABS challenge dispute.
The ejection stings more because of how this game slipped away.
Taj Bradley gave the Reds just two runs over six strong innings and handed over a lead, but the bullpen could not hold it.
Taj Bradley has the 2nd best pitcher fWAR in all of baseball this season!What a start to the year it’s been for the young right-hander 💪 pic.twitter.com/aFIfhlDfaS
The Reds tied it in the eighth on a Rece Hinds sacrifice fly and took the lead in the ninth on a bloop single by Dane Myers.
Minnesota was one of the hottest teams in the American League just days ago, climbing from a 1-4 start to first place in the AL Central.
Now the Twins need to stop the bleeding before a small slide turns into something bigger.
The bullpen remains a real concern, and close games like Saturday's keep showing how thin the margin is for this team.