Never mind that the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday — which is all fine and well, of course — because I’m more interested in the experiment that keeps on giving. Once again I’m talking about the “opener,” in which a reliever starts a game to tee up the primary pitcher for an effective... Continue Reading »

What will we remember about the 2018 Minnesota Twins? The walk-off loss. The four-game winning streak came to an end Friday night in Oakland after the Twins dropped another close game in an all too familiar fashion. The A’s took the early lead, the Twins rallied for six runs in the sixth inning, and then... Continue Reading »

The “opener” appears to have a future in Minnesota. Once again a reliever started the game for the Twins, followed by a rookie primary pitcher who took advantage of the moment and won his first major league baseball game. That was the case Wednesday when reliever Gabriel Moya did his thing and so did primary... Continue Reading »

Despite winning 53 games in the minors, starting pitcher Stephen Gonsalves, who has made four starts since being called up by the Twins, has struggled in every appearance, including on Friday. Gonsalves gave up five earned runs in two-plus innings, but the Twins had his back and rallied for a 10-6 victory over the Kansas... Continue Reading »

Other than the no-decision 1-hitter against the New York Yankees in April, Kyle Gibson’s start Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays has to be one of his best outings of the season. Gibson struck out nine over eight innings and held the Rays to just one run. He also scattered five hits and didn’t walk... Continue Reading »

After a 1-8 road trip, the Twins suddenly have a three-game winning streak at home, courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles, baseball’s worst team at 24-64. The Twins won again Saturday and will now shoot for the four-game sweep on Sunday. Starter Kyle Gibson got into trouble early in Saturday’s game, but finally settled down to... Continue Reading »

Despite 11 strikeouts, the Twins hung around long enough to score two runs on Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, one of the best pitchers in the game, then pounced on the bullpen to take Game 1 of the three-game series, 6-2. And if it’s not Eddie Rosario helping the Twins win, it’s Eduardo Escobar,... Continue Reading »

Twins rookie Fernando Romero, who made an impressive major league debut last week, took it a step further Monday after he silenced 40,000 fans at Busch Stadium by striking out nine over six innings. The team backed him with 11 hits and the Twins cruised to a 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. First... Continue Reading »

Twins fans who are old enough to remember reliever Ron Davis likely had a debilitating flashback on Thursday after watching closer Fernando Rodney serve up a walk-off home run to Adam Jones and the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles prevailed 3-2 in 11 innings and the Twins lost on Opening Day for the ninth time in... Continue Reading »