If the Twins’ 2025 season is a mirror image of last season — and so far it has been with a slow start and long winning streak — then I suppose we should brace ourselves for a losing streak because that’s exactly what happened in 2024.
After the Twins won 12 straight last season, they soon dropped seven games in a row, the longest losing streak of the season, to the Yankees, Guardians and one game to the Nats before they put an end to it with a win.
The 13-game winning streak ended Sunday in a 5-2 loss to the Brewers. Daniel Zebulon Matthews, better known as Zebby, got the ball for the Twins and he initially looked sensational, striking out the side in the first inning.
But by the bottom of the third inning, Zebby couldn’t find the strike zone, or perhaps the home plate umpire couldn’t see it, and the result was three walks and a long inning for Matthews.
The Brewers took a 3-0 lead and the Twins never really recovered. Zebby’s final line: four runs allowed on five hits across three innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
So it’s a loss. The Twins now head home to play the always-tough Cleveland Guardians, followed by the Kansas City Royals. Bailey Ober gets the ball Monday.
Extra innings…
–One more thing to consider in this mirror image of a season. Will the 2025 Twins collapse in August and September like last season?
–At least we know there’s one constant with this Twins team: injuries. And now reliever Danny Coulombe, who had yet to allow an earned run in 16-plus innings, has landed on the 15-day injured list, joining a long list of other banged up Twins.
In addition to Coulombe, there’s Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Willi Castro, Michael Tonkin, Matt Wallner and Luke Keaschall, who has been moved to the 60-day IL. With so many injuries, it makes you wonder how this team has managed to win at all.
–Royce Lewis hit his first home run of the season in Sunday’s game, a no-doubter to left field in the fourth inning. Now would be a great time for Lewis to get hot.
–So will Twins Territory show up at Target Field after a 13-game winning streak? One would think so, and the Twins need it because they currently rank 12th out of 15 AL teams in attendance, according to Baseball-Reference.com.