The Minnesota Twins were routed 13-0 by the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Generally speaking, blowout games like this don’t produce a whole lot of controversy. This one, though, was different. An unusual strategy Minnesota used in the bottom of the eighth inning might have cost White Sox ace, Dylan Cease, a no-hitter.
Cease was unhittable. He carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and seemed to be getting stronger as the game grew longer, striking out a pair of hitters in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Twins effectively threw in the towel in the bottom of the eighth inning, calling on position player Nick Gordon to pitch. The result was either disastrous or perfect for Minnesota, depending on your perspective.
In two-thirds of an inning, Gordon allowed six runs on five hits with two walks. Minnesota then went to another position player, Jermaine Palacios to get the third out of the inning, which he did. Chicago’s big inning did two things. One, it put any faint comeback hopes away for Minnesota. Two, it might have iced Cease, who was waiting in the dugout, thereby making it harder for him to complete the no-hitter.
Initially, it didn’t appear as though Cease was bothered. He retired Minnesota’s first two hitters. That brought Luis Arráez to the plate. And the man who’s presently leading the American League in hitting broke the no-hitter up with a single.
Dylan Cease's no-hit bid was broken up with 2 outs in the 9th by Luis Arráez (who has the highest batting average in the AL). ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/Fw7EkQ0gVE
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 4, 2022
The hit itself was not controversial. Cease didn’t get robbed on any pitches and it was as clean as a hit is ever going to be.
But the Twins deciding to use position players on the mound with Cease three outs away from a no-hitter did not sit well with a lot of people in the MLB world.
Dylan Cease has a no-hitter going and the Twins are using two different position players to get through the bottom of the 8th inning. They were down by 7 coming into the inning.
I am so over the position players pitching.— Ryan Rowland-Smith (@hyphen18) September 4, 2022
The Twins putting in a position player in the eight during a no hitter is bush league. #whitesox #cease #nohitter #twins #mlb
— Brian Ehman (@Behman1123) September 4, 2022
Dylan Cease pumping up the crowd after eight no-hit innings only to have to watch the Twins run out a position player platoon on the mound. Lord.
— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) September 4, 2022
A position player pitching during a no hitter is stupid.
— Tyrone (@TheTyronePalmer) September 4, 2022
Really not crazy about Rocco Baldelli and the @Twins using a position player to throw the 8th inning down only 7 runs during a game with big divisional consequences and Cease throwing a gem for the @whitesox. Made the inning a farce.
— Bryan Wilson (@chibrywilson) September 4, 2022
Update: another position player taking the mound for the Twins. Remember when position players pitching was a fun little oddity?
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) September 4, 2022
This is where the classic unwritten rules debate comes into play and any time that’s the case, it’s tricky.
Opposing offenses are under no obligation to make no-hitters easy. Quite the opposite. That would only cheapen them. In 2001, the San Diego Padres pitcher Ben Davis was heavily criticized for bunting for a base hit late in a perfect game bid from Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling. The problem with the criticism was that that game was only 2-0. By getting on base, Davis brought the tying run to the plate. Getting on base in a close game trumped any no-hitter etiquette.
The problem here is that Minnesota essentially did the opposite. Yes, it was 7-0 when the Twins called on Gordon to pitch and Minnesota was highly unlikely to overcome that deficit. But we have seen similar leads blown this season. Regardless of whether this was what the Twins were doing, this felt like nothing more than a deliberate attempt to ice a pitcher, even if it meant hurting their own team. That’s the part that’s hard to justify here.
More often than not, anyone invoking the unwritten rules leads to eye-rolling. Here, though, there is a valid complaint.
