The Twins took two of three games from the division-leading Kansas City Royals, and they did it in smash-mouth style, scoring nine runs in Game 1 and 13 runs on Sunday. It was the first series win for the Twins since they took two of three games from the Detroit Tigers in early April. The... Continue Reading »

The Twins made it two wins in a row on Friday after their Game 1 beat down of the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals, 9-1. Two rookies made key contributions to the win, and where would the Twins be without Byron Buxton? Rookie Alex Kirilloff hit two home runs and drove in four of the... Continue Reading »

The Twins fell to 7-14 on Monday after another all-too familiar loss. So far this season that has meant not enough hits, not enough runs, mental mistakes and just plain bad luck. Once the Twins play extra innings, it’s like entering Death Valley for some reason, and once closer Alex Colome is handed the ball…... Continue Reading »

The starting pitching has been strong, the bullpen has shown improvement, but this Twins team is not hitting, and that was underscored Tuesday after they were shut out by the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0. The Twins had a grand total of three hits. After that loss, I crunched some numbers that showed the Twins have scored... Continue Reading »

Twins pitcher Jose Berrios appears to have started something. After a scintillating start to exhibition play, Berrios finally turned in a stinker on Tuesday and allowed four runs on eight hits for his first loss in Grapefruit League action. Perhaps “stinker” is not the right word because allowing four runs is certainly not the end... Continue Reading »

The ball isn’t flying into the outfield stands at a rate we’ve come to expect from the Twins, but it certainly is sailing well off the mound based on the low number of earned runs starters have allowed this spring. And it continued Friday after Michael Pineda gave up only one earned run over two-plus... Continue Reading »

In games that Twins pitchers Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda, Matt Shoemaker, Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe have started so far this spring — and this is likely to be the starting rotation, give or take Smeltzer, for the regular season — they have allowed a grand total of one earned run. That came... Continue Reading »

Amid the slow-moving train wreck that was the Twins’ Game 2 loss to the Houston Astros was this: Alex Kirilloff, a highly ranked prospect in the Twins organization, made his major league debut in that game and wasted no time in getting his first hit, a sharply lined single to right field. A right fielder... Continue Reading »