The fact that the Minnesota Twins opted to pitch around Manny Machado to face Adam Jones with two outs in the ninth inning with the game on the line had something to do with Machado's scalding bat, but it also showed just how deep Jones' season-long struggles at the plate had become.
Forget that the Orioles center fielder had already blasted a solo homer into the second deck earlier in the game — a sign his bat was starting to come around — the Twins were challenging the slumping Jones to beat them.