Berrios still ‘learning’ to hone skills, limit walks

ST. PETERSBURG — Jose Berrios had options for the pitch he sent to Evan Longoria during the third inning, which eventually wound up in the left-field bleachers. He could’ve bounced a pitch with an 0-2 count. He could’ve thrown something far enough outside for it to be unhittable. Instead, he tried to paint.

The Twins righty eyed the inside part of the plate, trying to squeeze a slider between the right-handed batter and the black. The ball hovered a moment too long and an inch too far toward the plate. Longoria turned and fired a line drive to left to pad an early lead for the Rays on their way to a 7-3 win.

“I wanted to not throw in the dirt, but the ball became a strike, so he hit the ball well,” Berrios said. “He’s got power.”

Berrios followed up the best and longest start of his career earlier this week against the Indians with a step backward in St. Petersburg. Manager Paul Molitor judged the rookie’s five-plus-inning outing as “fair” as he conceded only one walk while allowing four earned runs. The mistakes weren’t as frequent as they were during duds like his four-inning, five-run debut against Cleveland in April or his seven runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Tigers …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com