Julien's tough 9th inning leads to Twins' loss to Cardinals (2024)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Edouard Julien said after the game that he’d never missed to his arm side on a double-play throw to the second-base bag before.

But baseball can be cruel sometimes -- because that likely came at the cost of victory.

Julien’s errant throw on a Brendan Donovan grounder in the ninth inning put the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position, and Lars Nootbaar made it hurt with a two-out, two-run, go-ahead single off closer Jhoan Duran to flip what was on track to be a Twins victory into a 3-2 loss Sunday afternoon at Target Field.

“I don't know what happened,” Julien said. “Maybe my feet weren't turned enough, but I usually do that. I don't know. It just happened in a bad moment, I guess.”

On the 59 previous occasions this season in which the Twins had taken a lead into the ninth inning, they had emerged triumphant, largely thanks to the success of Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran in relief. So this loss also marked an unfortunate first for Minnesota.

With the Twins handing a 2-1 lead to Duran for the ninth thanks to Royce Lewis’ pinch-hit, go-ahead double in the eighth, Nolan Arenado knocked a grounder up the middle that Julien slid for to try to stop it and chased down, but he couldn’t finish the play.

The pivotal moment came one batter later, when Donovan hit a weak grounder directly at Julien, who pivoted to his right and threw to shortstop Kyle Farmer to try to get the lead runner -- but saw the throw sail well to the outfield side, allowing the runners to move up to second and third with one out.

“I've done that so many times, right? I know where the base is,” Julien said. “Just didn't get it there and lost the game, and I've got to put that behind me and move on.”

Though Duran struck out Tommy Pham to put the Twins on the cusp of victory, Nootbaar poked Duran’s first-pitch splitter to left to send the Cardinals to victory.

Julien denied that he was rushed or any notion that the motion of the second-base umpire might have impacted the throw. His defense -- once seen as the biggest barrier to his future as a big league second baseman while he was a prospect -- has also been much better this season, as he improved from 0 Outs Above Average last season to plus-2 this year, per Statcast.

“He, pregame, makes that play all day long,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “During all of his game action over the last couple years, he makes that play pretty much all game long.”

The Twins’ season-long strategy of treating the campaign as a marathon instead of a sprint is predicated on making sure they absolutely win the games in which they have the advantage late -- something they do by using their high-leverage relievers almost exclusively with tight leads and not to keep the game close when trailing.

But they’ve had a few frustrating losses lately -- after tough innings by Jorge Alcala (last Sunday in Texas) and Steven Okert (Tuesday in San Diego), and now, with this misplay.

But the club is also focused on its other missed chances to give Duran more wiggle room. Manuel Margot struck out with the bases loaded against St. Louis starter Erick Fedde in the fourth and Austin Martin grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners in the seventh.

They’re hoping Julien doesn’t dwell on it because the rest of them won’t either.

“He swung the bat great today,” said Farmer, who has served as Julien’s mentor. “I think if that happened earlier in the game, it wouldn't be as magnified as it is now. No, Eddy's fine. He'll come back tomorrow and play well. Tough game, it really is.”

“I’ve done it,” Willi Castro said. “I know a lot of guys have done it, too, [to] lose a game [like] that. It’s something that happens. … He’s a great player.”

They’ve seen the hard work that Julien has put in to improve his defense and they stand with him on one of his toughest days, with Farmer offering advice as to how to have a short memory.

“Probably a glass of bourbon, maybe two,” Farmer said. “That's it, really.”

Is Julien even a bourbon guy?

“I don’t know,” Farmer said. “But he needs one.”