KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> After further review, maybe the Twins didn’t do everything possible to avoid a pitch-clock violation in the series opener Monday night.

Instead of rushing right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson into throwing a pitch with time running out after the PitchCom glitched out, catcher Christian Vázquez told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday he should have called for a mound visit instead.

Doing so would have paused Jonathan India’s at-bat with a 3-2 count and two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and given umpire Nic Lentz no reason to issue an automatic ball call. The call resulted in a walk to India and sparked an argument with manager Rocco Baldelli that included his first ejection of the season and 15th of his career.

India was stranded at first when reliever Scott Blewett retired the next batter. Twins fell 4-2, dropping their record to 3-7.

Woods Richardson tapped his head as if to say he couldn’t hear a signal with about 7 seconds on the pitch clock. He also disengaged the rubber — commonly understood as a pitcher’s way to call time — but Lentz didn’t stop play. The next move likely belonged to Vázquez.

“I was thinking about that last night after the game,” Vázquez said. “‘Maybe if this happens again, burn a mound visit.’ It was 3-2, not 0-2, when it’s not as bad to lose a pitch.”

Vázquez, Woods Richardson and Baldelli asserted that Lentz should have granted time with 7 seconds left, and the manager said his mind hadn’t changed on Tuesday.

“The more I reflect, the more I come back to the fact that I don’t think that any call probably should have been made there,” Baldelli said. “And if there was any issue with a hitter, or the pitcher, or even the umpire being thrown off by what was going on out there, the resolution is, almost always, just to reset the clock and to let the players play and let the pitch be thrown.”

Buck trucked

Byron Buxton regretted not catching India’s first-inning leadoff double on Monday. Buxton ran a long way to track it down in left-center, but said he probably took his eyes off the ball at the last moment as he braced himself for impact with the wall.

He had it in his glove but couldn’t hold on after crashing.

“But that’s no excuse,” Buxton said. “I’ve made that play enough times to know I should have caught it.”

Baldelli said Buxton played it the right way, and will make the play most times.

“He’s also one of the harder guys outwardly emotionally on himself of any guy that I’ve ever managed,” Baldelli said. “I’m never surprised to hear that he’s (angry) when he doesn’t make a play. I’m always expecting it. He makes most of the plays, to say the least.”

India hit the ball an estimated 402 feet, per MLB Statcast, and the ball had an expected batting average of .610.

“I was a little bit more worried about staying on the field rather than making the play,” said Buxton, who has missed his share of games because of injury. “But as an outfielder, and who I am, and how I was raised, if it touches the glove, you’ve got to catch it.”

Buxton has had harder crashes, but it still felt jarring.

“Me taking my eyes off the ball allowed me to slow down a few steps before I did hit it as hard as I did,” he said. “Younger me was going on the IL. I’m in the lineup today.”

Twins add left-hander

The Twins have signed free-agent left-hander Richard Lovelady and assigned to Triple-A St. Paul.

Lovelady, 29, has six seasons of MLB experience and pitched in two games this season for the Toronto Blue Jays after making their Opening Day roster. He elected free agency after the Blue Jays tried sending him to Triple-A, but Lovelady’s three seasons of service time allowed him the decision to leave.

He owns a 5.29 ERA, with 93 strikeouts, 38 walks and 12 home runs allowed and in 101 career innings. He’s also played with the Royals, Rays, Athletics and Cubs since 2019.