Pablo López raced off the mound, chasing after a ball that deflected off of his foot. After he got to it, he picked it up and shoveled it to first baseman Kody Clemens, the throw just beating the runner, Angel Martínez.

López dove to the ground as he tossed the ball, flopping face-first into the grass. He laid down for a brief second before pushing himself back up, all smiles, and giving a thumbs up as he walked back to the mound.

He may have gotten the out, but the third-inning play ended up leading to an early departure for the pitcher, who was in his third start back since suffering a teres major strain that kept him out for three months.

López departed after four innings and just 61 pitches in the Twins’ 6-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night at Target Field, getting five more outs after the play before leaving with what the Twins called right forearm tightness as a result of the dive.

“There’s only so much that can be going on with the forearm or elbow, so my mind definitely takes me to worse places, worst-case scenarios, which is less than ideal,” López said. “I’m trying to remember what I felt like 12 years ago when I blew my elbow out and I think I’m probably not helping my case, but I have to wait to get imaging done (Saturday).”

López said he thought the adrenaline from that play helped him through the third inning but in the fourth, something felt a little bit tight. He spoke with catcher Jhonny Pereda and then let head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta know, at which point they made the decision to take him out of the game.

“I didn’t feel anything at the moment,” he said. “Everything came after that.”

The starter gave up two runs in his abbreviated outing, both coming in the first as he pitched through progressively heavier rain. That, he said, affected his grip and played a factor in the inning, particularly in the walk he issued to Guardians star José Ramírez.

“If I had to go back, well, if I don’t walk him, maybe it doesn’t get to that position where I give up a two-RBI single (to Bo Naylor),” López said. “But then I still gave up a two-RBI single. I threw a pitch that could’ve been a little better.”

For much of the day, those were the only two runs on the board as the Twins (66-87) were shut down by Cleveland (82-71) rookie starter Parker Messick for the first five innings of his start. They finally broke through in the sixth, using hits from Austin Martin, Luke Keaschall and Royce Lewis to produce a pair of runs.

The score remained that way until the eighth when Ramírez sparked a two-out rally with a double. The Twins then intentionally walked Kyle Manzardo to face Naylor, who, after Ramírez and Manzardo stole third and second base respectively, brought them both home. Cleveland tacked on another pair of runs off reliever Michael Tonkin in the ninth.

The late offense lifted the hottest team in baseball to its eighth-straight victory. The Guardians have now won 13 of their past 14 games and with another Detroit loss on Friday, they moved 2 1/2 games behind first place in a division race that at one point seemed out of reach.

“Kind of one of those messy games in some ways. Just the weather was tough,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We didn’t get going against their starter real good. … We needed to do a little more on both sides of the ball.”

Related Articles

Matt Wallner lands on injured list, most likely ending his season

Byron Buxton’s big season is paying off, quite literally, for Twins star

Taj Bradley falters as Twins lose to Yankees, drop series

Twins nearly claw all the way back but fall to Yankees

Twins Bailey Ober looks to get back to his ‘old self’ in offseason