Twins 7, Yankees 0: Signature Simeon Woods Richardson

[Nate Palmer]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson - 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 K (92 pitches, 58 strikes (63.0%)
Home Runs: Brooks Lee (15)
Top 3 WPA: Simeon Woods-Richardson (0.350), Brooks Lee (0.111), Edouard Julien (0.089)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Even in a season that is lost from a competitive standpoint, dishing a loss to the New York Yankees is worth the price of admission. Those who were willing to pay admission Monday night got that sweetest of treats. 

Hustlin’ a Run
The Twins' offense would strike first, fueled by plenty of hustle on the basepaths. Jhonny Pereda led off the inning with a scorching double down the left field line that clocked in at 110.6 mph off the bat. Edouard Julien followed Pareda’s at-bat with his own hard-hit grounder up the middle, which got under the defender's glove and trickled into the outfield just far enough that Julien was able to beat out the throw to first and set up runners on first and second. 

After a Byron Buxton strikeout, Austin Martin would follow up with his own hustle on a grounder that the Yankees defense tried turning for two, in vain. Keeping the out off the board allowed Pereda to make his way home and put the Twins up 1-0. 

SWR Had a Night
Simeon Woods Richardson had a tall task in front of him with a very dangerous Yankees lineup to pitch against. It feels like an understatement to say that he lived up to the task on Monday evening. The righty easily topped his own career strikeout mark with 11; previously, he had only reached eight in a game. Those 11 strikeouts also matched the top Twins mark for the 2025 season. 

Among those strikeouts was the fourth inning, in which Woods Richardson struck out the side and flirted with an immaculate inning. He also got the dangerous Giancarlo Stanton to strike out three times, including the 11th and final strikeout of the evening. On the way, Woods-Richardson created 16 swings and misses. 

Lee’s Right-Handed Power
Brooks Lee had the opportunity to turn to the right side of the plate as a batter and seized it, to show off some power against the tough Carlos Rodon. Rodon has continued to be a dominant pitcher, with a 3.11 ERA across 30 starts in 2025. Lee still found a way to take Rodon deep for his 15th home run of the season and put the Twins up 2-0. In the seventh inning, Lee would turn to the other side of the plate and hit a double to drive in Trevor Larnach and increase the Twins lead once again to 3-0. 

Martin Delivers the Knockout
After Lee added to the lead with his double, the Twins worked to load the bases for Austin Martin to come to the plate. Once again, Martin delivered, this time with a bases-clearing double, which also doubled the Twins' run total, putting them up 6-0. Martin’s four RBIs add to his already impressive September, in which he was hitting for a .333 average with a .880 OPS. 

If the hitting wasn't enough, Martin also turned in a great catch over the wall in foul territory while battling a Yankee fan to bring the top of the eighth inning to an end. 

What’s Next?
As the Twins continue to try to play the role of spoiler to the Yankees, Zebby Matthews will try to follow in his teammates' footsteps Tuesday evening. To do so, Matthews will need to bounce back after a rough outing in which he allowed five runs to the Angels last time out. The Yankees will counter with right-hander Cam Schlittler and his excellent 3.05 ERA.  

Postgame Interviews

 

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Ohl	0	0	35	0	14	49
Sands	0	21	26	0	0	47
Adams	0	17	0	0	29	46
Tonkin	0	20	0	19	0	39
Funderburk	0	7	15	0	16	38
Cabrera	0	0	0	22	0	22
Laweryson	0	0	20	0	0	20
Hatch	0	0	0	17	0	17

 

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[Nshore]

That might have been the Twins' best game all season.  They seemed totally locked in and playing hard.  I have no idea where that came from.  Maybe they see it as their play-off series.  Woods-Richardson was an absolute beast.  

[terrydactyls]

P	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	Chicago White Sox	57	94	0.377	-
2	Pittsburgh Pirates	65	86	0.430	8.0
3	Minnesota Twins	66	84	0.440	9.5
4	Atlanta Braves	67	83	0.447	10.5
5	Los Angeles Angels	69	81	0.460	12.5
6	Baltimore Orioles	70	80	0.467	13.5
7	Whatever Athletics	70	80	0.467	13.5
8	Miami Marlins	70	80	0.467	13.5
9	St. Louis Cardinals	73	78	0.483	16.0
10	Tampa Bay Rays	73	77	0.487	16.5
11	Cincinnati Reds	75	75	0.500	18.5

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Easily the best start of S-W-R's young career. A couple more starts like this and he could make the decision to move him into the bullpen pretty hard to make. Also nice to see Brooks have a good game as he has been struggling as of late. I realize that it doesn't technically matter, but it is always nice to beat the Yankees, and this was a fun game.

[ashbury]

The Yankees are just punking us.  "This roster of yours, it's looking pretty good.  See us not score any runs tonight?  You should totally roll with this same roster in 2026."

[glunn]

Great night for some of the young players, and I love beating the Yankees.

Best win in a long time.

[LastOnePicked]

I'm gonna pretend this is a Wild Card postseason series and the Twins just won Game 1 decisively. DO NOT interrupt my delusion with your REALITY.

[jorgenswest]

Jhonny Pereda getting a lot of credit from Woods Richardson on the game he called. They may have found a major league catcher.

[Parfigliano]

Let's see them carry tonight's stellar performance into tomorrow night and beat the Yankees again.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

The Yankees are just punking us.  "This roster of yours, it's looking pretty good.  See us not score any runs tonight?  You should totally roll with this same roster in 2026."

You made me chuckle. Then .... Wait. Isn't that exactly what the Twins did the last two offseasons?

Wins like today are so much fun and yet as you say, so dangerous.

[DocBauer]

Sims FB was clocking consistently in the 94-95 range as I watched. (Didn't see every frame). His slider and splitter were working as well or better than I've ever seen. While isn't a GREAT Yankees team, they still have a hell of a lineup. Gotta be SWR's best game ever doesn't it?

I think we often forget how weird Sims' MILB career arc was and the fact that he's STILL only 24yo.

To his fans, I'm still not SOLD on Martin yet. But the way he began the year at AAA before injury, and the way he's hit since brought back up is impressive. His bases loaded double battle was very impressive. And that catch was tremendous hilight kind of stuff. Can he keep it up?

Every time I get excited about Lee's bat, he goes in to a slump. And then he has games like this with a HR, and a Dbl, and a really nice backhand play and strong throw to 1B in what, the 8th inning?

His penchant to swing at crap down, down and out, down and in, and K or make weak contact drives me nuts. And then he openly states he understands that's not his hitting ZONE and he's trying to adjust. Well, at least he understands that. Will he make the adjustments necessary? He's a decent, solid ML SS. That works for now. The 15 Dbls and 15 HR and 60 RBI tells me there's a better hitter inside of him waiting to come out.

Like SWR, he's still only 24yo. The ML rookie minimum is 130 AB. He came in to 2025 with 172. So he is virtually a rookie this season.

A COUPLE SIDE NOTES REGARDING THE BULLPEN:

While he didn't pitch tonight, Sands has looked much more like his 2024 self until the past week where he as really bad. Can he rebound to finish strong?

I had decided to give up on Funderburk several weeks ago. Goodness knows he hasn't been outstanding, but I'd say he's been good to very good in about 75-80% of the games he's pitched since the deadline thrust him in to a more prominent role. Maybe my perception is completely off base, but in my eyes, he's been generally solid and looking like he's actually DEVELOPING finally toward the next step.

Adams and Ohl AREN'T ML caliber SP. That's the reason they were part of the pilot program this season to take "not quite good enough" arms and use them for multiple innings every 4 days. I still like the idea in principle and think it might be worth pursuing in the future. But for the remainder of this season, and for 2026, the Twins need to be focused on arms that can go ONE good IP. Adams and Ohl have both had some very good appearances, and some very bad ones. Tonight they both had good games. For the remainder of this year, let them both go hard for 1 IP, and let someone like Hatch cover bulk innings. Adams and Ohl can both sit in the mid 90's for a single inning. Ohl in particular has a really nice change. Either, or both, might surprise given a chance. The opportunity starts now. (Should have started in August).

[knothole61]

Yeah, just when the darkness seems to be descending all around: days getting shorter, leaves beginning to display their death hues, cowardly geese starting to squawk their way to warmer climes, and your favorite football team laying an enormous egg on national TV--just then, the Twins shutout the Yankees 7-0 and summer, it seems, may never die!!

Joy of joys...

[Doctor Gast]

7 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Jhonny Pereda getting a lot of credit from Woods Richardson on the game he called. They may have found a major league catcher.

The Twins' reluctance to use him, maybe was the sign that maybe we found a passable MLB catcher. 

[Doctor Gast]

Twins made me very happy by beating the NYY. SWR pitched a gem; he got guts & a good head on his shoulder. Hope he convinced any skeptics. The BP also pitched well, which leads me to think that somehow the Twins had turned the tables on NYY's stealing signs.

The kids had fun tonight. Lee surprises us with RH power. Martin came through big on both sides of the field. I'm still praying for a sweep. Can we do it with the remaining rotation & BP? It remains to be seen. Maybe NYY unravels, I hope so.

[Doctor Wu]

When I saw the game results posted online, all I noticed at first was the 7-0 score, and of course my initial knee-jerk reaction was: stomped by the Yankees again, But then I actually focused and realized the the TWINS were the winners of this shutout! What an unexpected and wonderful surprise. Great game, Simeon!

[Whitey333]

Yes indeed.  Great game Twins.  Probably the most thorough game they played all year.    Yankees looked tired and totally disengaged from the first game.  A series win or even a sweep would be great.

[jmlease1]

Of course it's in a lost season that the Twins put together one of their absolute best games against the hated Yankees.

But props to SWR who threw a gem. I'm still a fan of his and it's nice to see him maybe finishing the season strong after an unpleasant bout with a parasite.

Offense even got something done against a tough LHP.

There's enough players on this roster that should be fighting for jobs or even their MLB careers that there shouldn't be much quit here, but still nice to see in the dregs of a miserable season.

[Jeff K]

Twins 7, Yankees 0.  Cat bites dog.  Twins result a happy occurrence...anomoly.

[MinnInPa]

this came out of nowhere..how does Woods Richardson do this?? very impressive against that lineup..maybe he still can be our 5 next year

[jorgenswest]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

The Twins' reluctance to use him, maybe was the sign that maybe we found a passable MLB catcher. 

I don’t see a reluctance to use him. He was in the organization a little over a month before getting in a major league game. In that time he was the primary catcher in St. Paul. Gasper did start 6 times at catcher over that span but it was Jeffers almost every day. Wouldn’t it have been easier to evaluate him playing routinely in AAA rather than getting the 6 of 27 that Gasper was given after Vazquez was out? Pereda has 6 of 10 starts since Jeffers went down. That seems to be the right mix as he gets to know the pitchers.

[BrokenCompass]

Great to see both of the guys who came to the Twins in the Berrios trade making hay.

SWR and Austin Martin both have a huge opportunity to stick in Minneapolis full time next year. Nice to see them both seizing their chance. 

[Peter]

Very important win as well very important accomplishment in Rocco moving to 3rd all time in wins!!!

[Aggies7]

First shutout of the Yankees since….2011

[Doctor Gast]

3 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I don’t see a reluctance to use him. He was in the organization a little over a month before getting in a major league game. In that time he was the primary catcher in St. Paul. Gasper did start 6 times at catcher over that span but it was Jeffers almost every day. Wouldn’t it have been easier to evaluate him playing routinely in AAA rather than getting the 6 of 27 that Gasper was given after Vazquez was out? Pereda has 6 of 10 starts since Jeffers went down. That seems to be the right mix as he gets to know the pitchers.

IMO, Twins had many opportunities to bring up Pereda, but instead went with Gasper, especially when Vazquez went down. Like many times before, they don't do the right thing until they are forced to. If Jeffers hadn't gone down, Pereda would still be in AAA.

[Nashvilletwin]

SWR justing adding to the rationale to trade both Lopez and Ryan this off season…..

[BillyBallLives]

3 hours ago, Jeff K said:

Twins 7, Yankees 0.  Cat bites dog.  Twins result a happy occurrence...anomoly.

When I saw the scoreboard, I honestly thought I’d come down with a sudden case of dexleia…😉

[rdehring]

Fantastic start by SWR, certainly the best of his career.

Should they keep their top three starters for next year, they will have the starting pitching needed to compete for the post-season.  With five young starters battling for the #4 and #5 spots, they should have the depth that will allow them to either trade one or move one to the bullpen.  They also have the two with perhaps the highest ceilings, Rojas and Prielipp, on track to join the team by late summer.  

On the other hand, should SWR pitch like last night his last two times out, will that encourage the FO to consider trading either Pablo or Ryan?  Either should bring back both a top reliever and a top prospect as well as freeing up some cash to spend in free agency on another reliever or position of need.  Will they feel they still have a playoff caliber starting rotation without Ryan or Lopez?  

[Blyleven2011]

I fell asleep after Lee's homerun  and woke up as they said the final score ....

Damn ...

It's a good day in baseball when the Yankees lose to other opponents  ...

It's a great day in baseball when the twins manage a win over the Yankees  ...

Sorry I missed most of it , SWR had a tremendous game , starting pitching is still our strength  , hitters are hitting lefthanders better since allstar game  ...

[Blyleven2011]

6 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Twins made me very happy by beating the NYY. SWR pitched a gem; he got guts & a good head on his shoulder. Hope he convinced any skeptics. The BP also pitched well, which leads me to think that somehow the Twins had turned the tables on NYY's stealing signs.

The kids had fun tonight. Lee surprises us with RH power. Martin came through big on both sides of the field. I'm still praying for a sweep. Can we do it with the remaining rotation & BP? It remains to be seen. Maybe NYY unravels, I hope so.

Can the Yankees unravel enough to not make the playoffs  , that would make the majority of Twins fans very happy , but there are a few TD posters that have a duel fan base to both NY teams ....

[purplesoldier4u]

SWR, Martin, and Pereda might be locking themselves into MLB roster spots next season. Pereda looks like the best defensive catcher we've had in years and he's hit a little too. SWR and Martin, tow guys that I wrote off, seem to be working hard to earn the team's trust.