Game 1 against the Boston Red Sox is in the books after the Twins raced out to a 6-0 lead, then held on to win 6-5 Tuesday night before 35,000 at Fenway Park. The Twins went with an opener, calling on reliever Randy Dobnak to tee up primary pitcher, Lewis Thorpe, the lefty from Australia.... Continue Reading »

Starter Kyle Gibson fell to 6-3 on Saturday after Gardy’s guys, the Detroit Tigers, knocked off the Twins 9-3. Although Gibson was credited with the loss, it was reliever Matt Magill’s performance that once again has me concerned about the Twins bullpen. What’s there to be concerned about? I hear you ask. After all the... Continue Reading »

The Twins dropped Game 1 of their three-game series against the Cleveland Indians, the defending AL Central champs. And the loss largely falls on the shoulders of Devin Smeltzer, who made his second start for the Twins after pitching well in his major league debut. Smeltzer also pitched well early in Tueday’s game, but ultimately... Continue Reading »

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wanted this one. Baldelli went deep on the Twins bullpen, Mitch Garver hit his ninth home run and Byron Buxton threw out Shohei Ohtani at home plate to preserve the 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday. The Twins took a 4-0 lead, getting run-scoring hits from... Continue Reading »

The Twins claimed budding slugger C.J. Cron from waivers on Monday, making it the fifth member of the Tampa Bay Rays to join or recently join the club. Who are the other former Rays? Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, Twins coach Bill Evers, Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi and former slugger Logan Morrison, who is now a... Continue Reading »

Internet sensation and stat geek favorite, Willians Astudillo, who has established that he hits and only hits, struck out Thursday in the Twins’ 9-3 rout of the Detroit Tigers. What’s so remarkable about that? It was his first strikeout in a month and only his third in 26 games, according to MLB.com. Meanwhile, Astudillo and... 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 »

Before the 2018 season began, Kyle Gibson went to salary arbitration against his employer, the Twins, and lost, settling for $4.2 million for this season after seeking $4.55 million. I imagine he sought that higher amount based on his second-half performance in 2017, which saw him finally shake off his inconsistent ways and win more... 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 »