The Twins missed out on the top free agent pitchers this winter — and I’m still puzzled that the Toronto Blue Jays snagged Hyun-Jin Ryu — but the slugging, Twins-killing third baseman known as Josh Donaldson was still available, and after reports the club was “pessimistic” about landing the “bringer of rain,” the team finally... Continue Reading »

Despite 11 hits, the Twins still suffered from a serious lack of clutch hitting on Thursday. They left 11 men on base, were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and finally lost 7-2 and the series to the A’s. Meanwhile, Cleveland scored six runs in the seventh inning and came from behind to beat the... Continue Reading »

The Twins lost, Cleveland won and now the two teams are separated by seven games in the American League Central. A month ago I would’ve said this thing was sewn up for the Twins. Now, I’m not so sure. The Twins played extremely well through May, stumbled a bit in June and now have lost... Continue Reading »

Wasting no time, the MLB.com website Cut 4 is predicting the Twins will displace the Cleveland Indians atop the American League Central and win the division in 2019. That’s fine with me, of course, but I should point out that many (OK, some) made that prediction in 2018 and look where it got them. But,... Continue Reading »

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 »