ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Michael Helman’s seen enough of David Festa to believe his teammate would bail him out on Tuesday night.
In the fourth inning of his major-league debut, the Twins rookie outfielder airmailed a throw to third base with two outs on a play when nobody was running, a mistake which allowed two base runners to move into scoring position.
For a second, Helman worried his decision could allow a one-run deficit to spiral out of control. But Festa’s wiggled out of enough trouble in their time together for Helman to trust he would again.
When Festa struck out the next batter to end the inning, he provided more evidence about the growing belief within the organization that he’s more than a capable major-leaguer. Though he ultimately earned the tough-luck loss as the Twins fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 at Tropicana Field, Festa continued an outstanding stretch with five strong innings.
“I feel confident,” Festa said. “It’s not an excuse, the rookie thing and all that. I’m out there and there is a reason I’m out there. I need to give the team the best chance to win.”
Since he rejoined the Twins on July 24, Festa’s provided Minnesota with plenty of good opportunities to secure a victory. For the seventh time in the eight games he’s appeared in during the stretch, Festa allowed two or fewer runs on Tuesday.
The rookie pitcher’s effort against Tampa Bay kept the Twins within striking distance of a possible victory all evening, even though the offense put forth a rough showing of its own.
Mixing all three of his pitches well, Festa was mostly sharp. He worked around a leadoff single in the first inning and then pitched out of a man-on-third, one-out jam in the second inning, striking out José Caballero and getting Logan Driscoll to weakly ground out.
After a 1-2-3 third inning, Festa found trouble in the fourth, though it wasn’t all his fault. The right-hander yielded a leadoff single and then made his only real mistake of the day, walking Josh Lowe on four straight non-competitive pitches after he got ahead 0-2 in the count.
But Festa induced a weak pop out off Jonny DeLuca’s bat for the first out. Festa got more weak contact on the next swing, but Austin Martin got a late break on Jonathan Aranda’s shallow fly ball to left and it fell in for a game-tying single. With runners on the corners and one out, Festa got Caballero to hit a one-hopper to shortstop Brooks Lee, who fired home for the out.
Driscoll followed with a two-out single that skipped off the turf past sure-handed Carlos Santana to bring in the go-ahead run and led to Helman’s throwing error. But Festa escaped the jam and kept the Twins within a run.
“A little bit of a Tropicana Field type of inning,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Those are plays that we need to make and we know that. Not that they’re not tricky plays or not that they’re not somewhat difficult, but deep down, I think everyone expects to make all those plays and if we do, maybe we don’t give up any runs and we win 1-0.”
Festa’s response to an inning filled with misfortune was exactly what the Twins would hope for from their top pitching prospect: he struck out two of Tampa Bay’s 1-2-3 hitters and retired the side in order. He generated 16 swings and misses on 90 pitches and finished with seven strikeouts, walking just the one hitter.
Since rejoining the club, Festa has a 3.13 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Helman said. “Every time he gets on the mound, I expect that I’m not even getting a ball for the most part. He knows what he’s doing with his pitches. He’s got really good stuff. And even when I let a ball get away from me and throw one to the backstop over there, I knew he had my back on that and he was going to get the next guy out. It’s a comforting feeling out there.”
Festa clearly feels comfortable pitching in September and more than just a rookie trying to navigate the big leagues the first time. Seeing as he’s one of three first-year pitchers currently in the rotation, the Twins could use all the swagger they can get over their final 24 games.
“I feel like he believes in himself, he believes he should be here,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “He probably holds himself to higher standards than some of the past couple outings. (Tuesday) is a great example of how good he is and can be. We didn’t do anything for him as an offense to give him any run support to win a baseball game.”
Helman singles in debut
The first fly ball hit to Helman “felt like it was in the air forever.” But afterward, the 28-year-old rookie utility man felt right at ease.
Helman was about to fall asleep late Monday when he learned he’d make his debut after Baldelli texted out the following day’s lineup.
Batting ninth in the order, Helman ripped a 98-mph line drive on the first pitch he saw directly to Rays center fielder Jose Siri. But in his next at-bat, Helman hit a well-placed grounder up the middle and beat it out for an infield single.
“It was everything I could have dreamed of,” Helman said. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing support system with my family and friends and teammates. It was something special.”
Why they didn’t bunt
Quiet all game, the Twins’ offense briefly awakened in the ninth inning when Santana — who blasted a first-inning solo homer — and Julien singled off reliever Edwin Uceta.
Rather than bunt the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position, Baldelli elected to have Lee hit. Lee struck out and so did Willi Castro. Pinch-hitter Christian Vázquez then grounded out against lefty Garrett Cleavinger to end the game.
Baldelli said a shortened bullpen impacted his decision.
At the time, the Twins only had Ronny Henriquez and Scott Blewett available for certain. Without multiple late-innings options and possibly having only one back-end reliever available in an emergency, Baldelli wasn’t interested in playing for a tie.
The Twins finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
“We didn’t have too many different options to go if the game got extended,” Baldelli said. “We needed to score runs, not just try to push a run across and we’re still in a tough spot. I would send Brooks up there to swing the bat against him again.”
Et cetera
A late scratch from Monday’s lineup with a sore left knee, Max Kepler is in wait-and-see mode, according to Baldelli.
“We’re going to evaluate him throughout the afternoon (Tuesday) and see where we land,” Baldelli said. The team could potentially play short-handed until Friday, when the hope is Byron Buxton would be activated for a three-game series at Kansas City. With the Triple-A St. Paul Saints off on Tuesday, Buxton worked out at Target Field. He’s scheduled to resume his rehab assignment on Wednesday and play nine innings in center field for the Saints. … Louie Varland will officially rejoin the Twins on Wednesday and is likely to be the team’s bulk pitcher.
Baldelli said the Twins plan to use Henriquez as the opener for Wednesday’s contest.
(Photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
