The Twins scored a 5-4 walk-off win over the Bronx Bombers in Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday. And two free agent signings — Ty France and Harrison Bader — are grabbing headlines.
France homered, Bader followed suit and Matt Wallner, the real slugger in that group, went deep as well. The game-winning hit went to DaShawn Keirsey Jr.
On the mound, starter Simeon Woods Richardson allowed a run on three hits across two innings with three strikeouts. The win went to Alex Speas, who is now 1-0 on the spring. But it wasn’t all pretty from the bump.
Journeyman reliever Michael Tonkin, who is back again with the Twins, served up three runs on 20 pitches while Matt Canterino walked three batters in an inning with two wild pitches. Only 12 of his 25 pitches landed for strikes. But the artist formerly known as Louie Varland made a scoreless appearance on 18 pitches with two whiffs.
Extra innings…
-Reliever Louie Varland now wants to be known as Louis Varland. The Athletic Twins beat writer Dan Hayes explained the transition.
“He’s being announced as Louis (like St. Louis) bc that’s his real name & he wants to do it for his mom & his uncle, also named Louis. But he’s still just Louie, even if his brother joked about this & called him “Corporate Lou,” Hayes said via X, previously known as Twitter.
-Well, who wants to own the Twins now?
I ask the question because the billionaire Justin Ishbia, who showed early interest in buying the Twins, is reportedly going to forego that option and focus on his minority stake in the Chicago White Sox, which might become more than just that, of course, MLB Trade Rumors reports.
At first glance one might shudder at the notion of owning a terrible White Sox team. But if you can improve the product on the field, the Chicago media market beckons. Revenue from TV, radio, advertising and ticket sales is bound to be significantly more than what the Twin Cities can generate. After all, even the 121-loss White Sox of a season ago attracted more fans than the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland A’s.
Sources: MLB.com, MLB Trade Rumors, Baseball-Reference.com