MLB says Twins tried to circumvent rules vs. Royals on play that led to ejection
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli wasn’t around to see the Twins’ ninth-inning rally fall short Monday in a 4-2 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Baldelli was ejected in the sixth inning while arguing with home plate umpire Nic Lentz. That came after Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson was given a pitch-clock violation that led to a walk for the Royals’ Jonathan India.
The violation came on a 3-2 pitch.
Woods Richardson stepped off the rubber and pointed to his ear, which meant there was trouble with the PitchCom system. Lentz didn’t give Woods Richardson a timeout, so he tried to deliver a pitch with 2 seconds left on the clock.
Lentz ruled there was a pitch-clock violation before Woods Richardson threw the pitch.
“I supposedly didn’t give India time to get back in the box,” Woods Richardson told MLB.com. “I stepped off at 6 (seconds). I couldn’t hear the pitch call, so I stepped up. (Catcher Christian Vázquez was) spamming it, it got back in the signal. I got it with seconds left, got back on. India wasn’t ready, so a pitch clock violation.”
Out came Baldelli to, um, discuss the matter with Lentz, and that led to the ejection.
Major League Baseball said it believes Woods Richardson tried to circumvent the rules.
“The home plate umpire deemed the sequence an attempted circumvention of the Pitch Timer regulations by the pitcher,” MLB said in a statement on the league’s website. “Disengaging while gesturing about a potential PitchCom issue, and then re-engaging late in an attempt to deliver a pitch prior to the expiration of the Pitch Timer, did not allow the hitter the ability to remain alert and ready.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 8:54 AM.
