Braves 4, Twins 3: From Opener to Close, the Twins Lose Another Winnable Game

[Steven Trefz]

The Twins came into Saturday night's tilt against the Braves with a chance to even up the series against a fellow bottom-dweller in the standings. They threw the kitchen sink at Atlanta from a strategy standpoint, but they left the field all washed up. Here's how the latest loss unfolded.

Image courtesy of Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Box Score
Opener: Justin Topa 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (24 pitches, 18 strikes (75%)
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (98 pitches, 66 strikes (67%)
Home Runs: Carlos Correa (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Harrison Bader (-.202), Woods Richardson (-.153), Christian Vazquez (-.122)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 
 

After a crushing defeat/implosion against the Braves Friday night, the Twins looked to even the series and the collective blood pressure of Twins Territory on Saturday night. The bad news? Last year's Cy Young winner and noted Twins' killer Chris Sale was taking the mound for the Braves. The good news? Sale has stunk so far this season. The Twins threw out Justin Topa as an opener, a new player Jonah Bride at third base, a rookie Luke Keaschall in the second spot in the order, and both catchers in the lineup, all in hopes of working out a win.

Opening Highlights
Byron Buxton got the call as leadoff man, and his game opening single traveled a whopping two feet. Keaschall came up next, and his run-scoring double went a lot further.

Keaschall advanced to third base but was left stranded, and the game turned its eyes toward a rare "opener" experience from Topa and the Twins. The plan was for Topa to tear through the top of the Braves lineup, and thereby allow Woods Richardson the chance to extend longer into the ballgame. What transpired instead was two singles and a ringing Matt Olson double that tied the game at one apiece.

The Twins went silently in the second inning, and Woods Richardson took out the Braves in similar fashion when he entered the game in the bottom of the second. Buxton took a ball 398 feet this time for a booming triple. But again, the Twins left a runner stranded at third with less than two outs. The heart of Atlanta's order repeated their offenses in the bottom of the third inning, this time against the "starter" for another double and two singles with Olson again driving home a run to put the Braves on top 2-1.

Middling Highlights
Luckily for Woods Richardson and the Twins, that lead was short-lived, and Carlos Correa was no longer "homer-less" in 2025.

Correa's oppo taco tied the game, and instilled some hope back into the visiting dugout. The top of the fifth brought an even bigger chance for Correa to turn the tide of the series and perhaps the early season in general, as he came up with one out and the bases loaded to face the first man up out of the Atlanta bullpen. Rafael Montero looked to cut the rally short, and he succeeded by striking out Correa and Harrison Bader to leave the third runner at third base in only five innings.

Would the failure to cash in these potential runs against Sale come back to haunt the Twins? Woods Richardson continued to take care of business on his end by getting out of the fifth unscathed. Brooks Lee replaced Bride in the top of the sixth inning, and drew a walk. A hit and run play helped Trevor Larnach's groundball find the outfield grass, and once again the Twins had a runner at third with only one out. This time, Buxton's rope to the center field warning track plated a tagging Lee easily to help the Twins regain the lead yet again at 3-2.

The entire goal of the opener strategy was to get Woods Richardson deep into the game without facing the Braves' best hitters for a third time. Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours Michael Harris II qualifies as a "best hitter," and in his third at-bat against Woods Richardson he took a 2-0 fastball 446 feet to tie the game back up at three apiece. Nick Allen ripped a single immediately following to keep Woods Richardson on the ropes, and Jarred Kelenic was a few feet away from ruining the night for Twins fans. Luckily Larnach played the wall carom perfectly and threw out a trotting Kelenic as he tried to get to second base. Brock Stewart got the call to keep Allen stranded at third base, and in his first game back from the injured list Stewart made his 2025 debut and served up a go-ahead single to a red-hot Alex Verdugo on a full count. 4-3 Braves, and all's not well.

Closing Highlights
There weren't any highlights the rest of the game. None. The Twins couldn't muster a base runner in the final three innings and Twins fans were left wondering what might have been after failing to captialize on a rusty Sale early in the game.

Game Notes
Bride was able to notch his first hit as a Minnesota Twin with a single to right in the top of the fourth. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. left the game in the top of the fourth after taking a pitch off of his hand during a bunt attempt in what the team is calling a "left hand contusion." 

What’s Next?
On Easter Sunday, Joe Ryan (1-1, 2.45 ERA) takes the hill for the Twins against fellow right-hander Grant Holmes (1-1, 3.78 ERA) in hopes of salvaging one victory on this one-town road trip. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 Coming Soon!

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Jax	12	22	0	26	0	60
Topa	0	0	0	17	24	41
Alcalá	0	0	0	0	39	39
Varland	0	19	0	18	0	37
Durán	16	19	0	0	0	35
Sands	15	7	0	13	0	35
Coulombe	0	9	0	17	0	26
Stewart	0	0	0	0	13	13

 

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[Vanimal46]

The Twins’ history of failing to score with the bases loaded and 1 out or less spans hundreds of players and generations of fans at this point. 

[Aggies7]

Short starts, 2nd shortest starts in MLB

Tight games because offense is weak and doesn’t score late

Multiple unreliable relievers asked to hold slim leads

And even when all that works, the defense is weak

7-14

[Vanimal46]

12 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Short starts, 2nd shortest starts in MLB

Tight games because offense is weak and doesn’t score late

Multiple unreliable relievers asked to hold slim leads

And even when all that works, the defense is weak

7-14

“5 year extensions for Rocco and Falvey? Looks good to me!”

- Joe Pohlad

[exeoud]

Team is pathetic. I'm happy I kept the channel locked on the Wolves tonight. It's extremely refreshing to watch a team that lives for the moment and rises to the occasion. That's what good culture and environment looks like, and the Twins certainly don't have anything close to it.

[AceWrigley]

Twins 0-8 with runners in scoring position, Atlanta 4-10 . . . game.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I don’t mind trying something new with the opener, but if you are just going to pull the primary/starter when they get to the third time through anyway, then I don’t see the advantage. 

The Twins left the bases loaded that inning, but the Braves left a lot of runs on the field all night long. Not as close as the score.

gotta win tomorrow. 

[mikelink45]

I am not a fan of the opener. I really don't see how it makes it better. The starter isn't used to coming in and the second inning and the relief picture isn't used to coming in in the first.

[IndyTwinsFan]

1 hour ago, exeoud said:

Team is pathetic. I'm happy I kept the channel locked on the Wolves tonight. It's extremely refreshing to watch a team that lives for the moment and rises to the occasion. That's what good culture and environment looks like, and the Twins certainly don't have anything close to it.

My thoughts exactly. 

[JADBP]

DAIRY QUEEN FOR EVERYONE AFTER THE GAME TONIGHT!

This was the most painful loss of the season to date.  All those runners on 2nd and 3rd...surely you can push one or two across the plate?  Bases loaded? That was pathetic.  

But, the worst moment of the game was the post-game interview with Rocco.     

I say with no sarcasm that Rocco displayed all of the feel-good juju that a mini-van-driving Daddy/coach gives the kids after a Little League game. 

Rocco:  "I am so proud of the awesome effort that you kids put out today.  You kids did AWESOME!  DQ mini-Blizzards for everyone on the team!"

Kids:  "YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!"

Somehow Rocco thinks this translates well to the Biggs.  Somehow he thinks modern coaching is about coddling the players, while slavishly juggling strategy based on slivers of numerical advantage.  The players players don't give a damn because they are not being asked to give a damn.  Other than the rookies, they are all making millions of dollars no matter how well they play.  Why try harder? 

The coach never gets mad at the players.  There are no consequences for failing 10 times to get that teammate home for 2nd or 3rd.  

And the owners....they certainly don't give a damn either, because they are just trying to cash out the team for a $Billion or two.  

There are no consequences here.  DQs for everyone!  This is Rocco....he's yelling "Come on, hurry up guys, DQ closes at 9!"

Please hurry up and sell this team so a new owner might see through this BS.

[howeda7]

27 minutes ago, JADBP said:

DAIRY QUEEN FOR EVERYONE AFTER THE GAME TONIGHT!

This was the most painful loss of the season to date.  All those runners on 2nd and 3rd...surely you can push one or two across the plate?  Bases loaded? That was pathetic.  

But, the worst moment of the game was the post-game interview with Rocco.     

I say with no sarcasm that Rocco displayed all of the feel-good juju that a mini-van-driving Daddy/coach gives the kids after a Little League game. 

Rocco:  "I am so proud of the awesome effort that you kids put out today.  You kids did AWESOME!  DQ mini-Blizzards for everyone on the team!"

Kids:  "YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!"

Somehow Rocco thinks this translates well to the Biggs.  Somehow he thinks modern coaching is about coddling the players, while slavishly juggling strategy based on slivers of numerical advantage.  The players players don't give a damn because they are not being asked to give a damn.  Other than the rookies, they are all making millions of dollars no matter how well they play.  Why try harder? 

The coach never gets mad at the players.  There are no consequences for failing 10 times to get that teammate home for 2nd or 3rd.  

And the owners....they certainly don't give a damn either, because they are just trying to cash out the team for a $Billion or two.  

There are no consequences here.  DQs for everyone!  This is Rocco....he's yelling "Come on, hurry up guys, DQ closes at 9!"

Please hurry up and sell this team so a new owner might see through this BS.

Monday would be a good day to fire Rocco.

And watch send Festa down to keep both SWR and Paddock in the rotation. 

[Parfigliano]

Last year .  Fire Rocco

[knothole61]

24 minutes ago, JADBP said:

DAIRY QUEEN FOR EVERYONE AFTER THE GAME TONIGHT!

This was the most painful loss of the season to date.  All those runners on 2nd and 3rd...surely you can push one or two across the plate?  Bases loaded? That was pathetic.  

But, the worst moment of the game was the post-game interview with Rocco.     

I say with no sarcasm that Rocco displayed all of the feel-good juju that a mini-van-driving Daddy/coach gives the kids after a Little League game. 

Rocco:  "I am so proud of the awesome effort that you kids put out today.  You kids did AWESOME!  DQ mini-Blizzards for everyone on the team!"

Kids:  "YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!"

Somehow Rocco thinks this translates well to the Biggs.  Somehow he thinks modern coaching is about coddling the players, while slavishly juggling strategy based on slivers of numerical advantage.  The players players don't give a damn because they are not being asked to give a damn.  Other than the rookies, they are all making millions of dollars no matter how well they play.  Why try harder? 

The coach never gets mad at the players.  There are no consequences for failing 10 times to get that teammate home for 2nd or 3rd.  

And the owners....they certainly don't give a damn either, because they are just trying to cash out the team for a $Billion or two.  

There are no consequences here.  DQs for everyone!  This is Rocco....he's yelling "Come on, hurry up guys, DQ closes at 9!"

Please hurry up and sell this team so a new owner might see through this BS.

JADBP, you may be the only person with fewer posts than I have, and I for one hope that you will offer many more.

I've been trying for years now to put my finger on the most malignant aspect of Rocco's persona, and to no avail--but I think you've managed to hit it on the head. I've condemned him for seeming to be too mellow like a Grateful Dead zombie, (no, not all Dead fans are zombies, but some are!) or a micro-managing pinhead, or even a leader who is hesitant to fully utilize (let alone push to their limits) his charges due to an excess of caution and empathy...think of Gen. George B. McClellan here. But now, thanks to you, when I look at him staring placidly out from the dugout I will envision him loading kids into a mini-van, bound for an ice cream treat or a "Misty Slush" at Dairy Queen where everyone can admire their participation trophies and blow paper wrappers off of their straws. Brilliant!

Look, I think he's probably a nice guy, and that he loves baseball, and that he was an excellent player in his day...I just can't imagine him taking the Twins to the Promised Land.     

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am not a fan of the opener. I really don't see how it makes it better. The starter isn't used to coming in and the second inning and the relief picture isn't used to coming in in the first.

And topa pitched the night before  , no reason to start him as an opener ...

[Mark G]

Half full......half full.......got it.

OK, Ryan wins today, and we sweep the White Sox next week and we're........well, still only 11-14, but on a roll!  (half full......half full......) 🙄

[Mark G]

2 minutes ago, Mark G said:

Half full......half full.......got it.

OK, Ryan wins today, and we sweep the White Sox next week and we're........well, still only 11-14, but on a roll!  (half full......half full......) 🙄

Half empty.........on the other hand, that would make the FO think we have turned the corner and things are going to be fine and won't consider making any changes.........half empty.........🤕

I am going to have to ponder this a while.......🤔

[Blyleven2011]

Another one run loss , im tired of losing and the players should be tired of losing too ...

They continue to mimic the worst team in the American league ...

In seems they just don't care , not playing with any pride  , buxton is showing he's healthy and runs the bases very well , Correa finally hit his first homer of the season to opposite field , everyone should have been trying to go opposite field against sale who was pitching on the outside edge  ...

Last but not least  , we went into the Atlanta series hoping to win another series and Atlanta wins two in arow for the first time this year ...

We always make the opposing teams look like winners ...

[Doctor Gast]

Buck is on fire, Correa hit his 1st HR. The game was most certainly winnable. So far Buck makes more sense as the leadoff hitter on the active roster. 

I'm open to the opener, Raya, sure, but Topa??????? Even if he didn't pitch the day before, he still doesn't make sense. Simmy is a SP. Why throw him off? Having Alcala pitch 2 innings could come back to bite us. In my opinion, Baldelli's bad BP move again cost us the game. 

[shimrod]

Why, why, why? Why did they do that?

What everyone here fails to understand - the FO and Rocco are smarter than you and me. They are professionals. Hell, they're even smarter than their peers in the game. 

Can you demonstrate your intelligence and baseball acumen by doing what any random fan would do? By doing what generations of lesser baseball professionals have done? No, because if you just do what's traditional and normal then how special are you, really? How innovative? 

This team is reshaping baseball strategy. Thinking outside the box. And if you're wondering why they remain unconcerned with the teams record, why, that's easy. They will not allow an antiquated metric like won/loss record distract them from their advanced statistical performance analysis. Focusing on wins is just another old fashioned baseball tradition the Twins have advanced beyond.

[CRF]

Getting real tough to watch this bunch of losers. It's depressing. I've seen this movie way too many times. 

[thelanges5]

0-8 RISP including another bases loaded nothing burger. Another winnable game against a struggling Braves. 0-10 against them since 2019. Bad News Bears lose again. 

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, shimrod said:

Why, why, why? Why did they do that?

What everyone here fails to understand - the FO and Rocco are smarter than you and me. They are professionals. Hell, they're even smarter than their peers in the game. 

Can you demonstrate your intelligence and baseball acumen by doing what any random fan would do? By doing what generations of lesser baseball professionals have done? No, because if you just do what's traditional and normal then how special are you, really? How innovative? 

This team is reshaping baseball strategy. Thinking outside the box. And if you're wondering why they remain unconcerned with the teams record, why, that's easy. They will not allow an antiquated metric like won/loss record distract them from their advanced statistical performance analysis. Focusing on wins is just another old fashioned baseball tradition the Twins have advanced beyond.

You have to keep reminding yourself that results don't matter, it's maintaining to their process no matter what which really matters.

[AceWrigley]

The way the Twins are burning through relievers so far this year, using Topa for 1 inning to start a game (and he just pitched the night before) seems bizarre to me. If SWR needs a short leash, and David Festa needs a short leash, use them as back-to-back "starters" in the same game. Might as well let them pitch the whole game as bringing in relievers mid-game doesn't seem to improve our likeliness of winning very much. And if you have to use a closer, ok, Duran only seems to be used once or twice a week anyway. Call up Zebby to fill the other starting slot, then when Lopez is back, you can pair zebby with Paddack the same way. Just an idea.

[Hubie29]

10 games out by May 1st? Wouldn't that be dandy?

[David HK]

It looks like this team didn't get the memo again-- they were supposed to find a NEW, creative way to lose, not repeat the same one as the day before!! 

You know, score early runs, FAIL MISERABLY to add on, then have a late inning pitching meltdown, and whimper into the darkness...

Cripe, whose turn is it to Eff up tomorrow?

[David HK]

6 hours ago, Mark G said:

Half full......half full.......got it.

OK, Ryan wins today, and we sweep the White Sox next week and we're........well, still only 11-14, but on a roll!  (half full......half full......) 🙄

Sweeping the White Sox, or even winning the series is in no way a given.

[BillyBallLives]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

And topa pitched the night before  , no reason to start him as an opener ...

Topa did not pitch on Friday. 

Whose ever doing the bullpen pitch count graphic threw you a spit ball. 

Here's the box score from Friday.

[BillyBallLives]

BTW... notice that Jax is on pace for 39 Holds for the season...I have no doubts he'll shatter the current record.

 

The MLB record for most holds in a single season by a relief pitcher is 41, set by:

Joel Peralta in 2013 (Tampa Bay Rays)

Tony Watson in 2015 (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Kelvin Herrera in 2014 (Kansas City Royals)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LambchoP]

All of these short starts are going to wipe out our relievers by the all star break. At least Buck and Keaschal are fun to watch. Might as well call up Mccusker, Rodriguez, Festa and Zebby and see what we've got for next year...too bad Eeles is hurt, I really wanted to see him play this year.

[JD-TWINS]

10 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I don’t mind trying something new with the opener, but if you are just going to pull the primary/starter when they get to the third time through anyway, then I don’t see the advantage. 

The Twins left the bases loaded that inning, but the Braves left a lot of runs on the field all night long. Not as close as the score.

gotta win tomorrow. 

Agreed - maybe it allows the “starter” to ease into the opposition line-up starting the 2nd v. the 5-7 guys? Not really clear other than to get the other Team “thinking” a bit more - maybe just desperation for some new “winning approach”?