MINNEAPOLIS — Nestor Cortes didn’t have great command of his pitches on Friday night, and it cost him and the Padres. He did have good command of his emotions, but that didn’t work out too well for him, either.
Cortes walked two and gave up five hits before he was handed his first career ejection in the fourth inning, and the Padres lost for the fourth time in five games, 7-4, to the Twins in the series opener at Target Field.
Five Minnesota hitters reached base in the first three innings, though Cortes was able to limit the damage to one run. But things got away from him in the fourth, when the Twins scored four times to take a 5-2 lead, with two of the runs charged to Cortes.
The trouble started when Matt Wallner singled to lead off the fourth. With Austin Martin at the plate, Wallner got a walking lead off first and stole second standing up, not even drawing a throw from catcher Freddy Fermin.
Martin ran the count full, then took a high fastball just off the outside corner for ball four, one of a handful of close calls that did not break Cortes’ way. The left-hander smiled and shook his head toward home-plate umpire Manny Gonzalez.
“I’m competing,” Cortes said. “I’m going to smile. I’m going to be pissed off. I’m going to want some pitches that maybe I didn’t get. It’s part of the competition.”
Fermin and the infielders converged on the mound for a conference, and when Gonzalez walked out to break up the meeting, Cortes said something — directly, but not emotionally, according to the pitcher’s account — to Gonzalez. The umpire didn’t like what he heard, and he promptly tossed Cortes.
“I just told him, ‘Hey, I looked at the iPad, and you missed three out of four,’” Cortes said of the close calls he didn’t get. “I didn’t tell him about the iPad part, but I did go look at the iPad, and I said, ‘Hey, you missed three out of four.’ And I guess that was the turning point for him.”
Gonzalez’s reaction surprised Cortes, who isn’t known for being confrontational on the field.
“Never been thrown out of a game, would never disrespect an umpire,” Cortes said. “Didn’t cuss him out. I thought I was pretty professional about the way I was letting him know that I wasn’t happy with his calls.”
Manager Mike Shildt was on his way to replace Cortes with fellow lefty Wandy Peralta. So the ejection didn’t play a role in the rest of the game, which got away from the Padres quickly as the inning unraveled.
Royce Lewis greeted Peralta with a single to load the bases. Kody Clemens then hit a potential double-play ball that skipped under second baseman Jake Cronenworth’s glove. Two runs scored on the error, giving the Twins a 3-2 lead.
“Jake’s played Gold Glove-caliber second base this year,” Shildt said. “He’s as reliable a defender as we have, but you know, it happens.”
Peralta gave up a two-run single to Trevor Larnach as Minnesota led, 5-2.
“Just didn’t really have it today, point blank,” Cortes said. “Wish I could tell you something different, but I just wasn’t commanding where I wanted to command.”
The ejection will leave a dent in his wallet, but Cortes was more disappointed that he didn’t go deep into the game after Padres starters averaged just four innings apiece in the recent three-game set in Seattle.
“I hate getting pulled early, and I wish I could be out there for the fifth and sixth innings and give my team a chance to win,” he said. “I’m going to try and be better next time.”
