Rays 4, Twins 1: Simeon Woods Richardson Dominates, No Other Good Things Happen

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Simeon Woods Richardson: 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (88 Pitches, 51 Strikes, 58%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (3)
Bottom 3 WPA: Justin Topa (-0.44), Kody Clemens (-0.15), Byron Buxton (-0.12)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):

The Twins drifted through their first eight games, their offense (largely dormant) paired with inconsistent pitching performances, a lot of ABS challenges and some crummy weather. You could easily see this season spiral out of control pretty quickly, given the lack of overall talent. Byron Buxton, Luke Keaschall and Royce Lewis have struggled, but so far, newcomers Tristan Gray and Josh Bell have kept them afloat.

Today, Simeon Woods Richardson made his second start of the year after posting a quality showing in Kansas City. He was a little rocky to start, falling behind several hitters but getting weak contact in the air when he needed it. His fastball sat between 90 and 93 MPH, which isn't great, but Rays hitters had a hard time squaring him up the first time through the lineup.

Opposing Woods Richardson was Nick Martinez, who has had a unique career, starting as a supposedly high-floor prospect with Texas who couldn't strike anybody out. He lasted for a couple years as a fifth starter type before heading to Japan for four years. When he came back, he immediately flourished in the Padres bullpen, his strikeout rate nearly doubling from his time in Texas. Teams loved his under-the-hood numbers, and he has signed eight-figure contracts with San Diego, Cincinnati, and now Tampa Bay, even while his performance has declined a bit in his mid-30s. His cutter and changeup remain above-average pitches, and he showcased them well Sunday.

He made quick work of the Twins in the first, but Matt Wallner got a hanging cutter to start the second, and crushed it out onto the pavilion in right field for the game's first run.

The two starters settled in from there, inducing lots of weak contact and quick outs. Woods Richardson had a lot of success pairing his splitter with his curveball. The next hit from either side was with two outs in the fourth inning, when Junior Caminero golfed a splitter well below the zone for a 397-foot home run. Certain hitters are just freaks.

That did seem to loosen up the Rays hitters, as they started taking some bigger hacks against Woods Richardson, making some loud outs and putting runners on the corners in the fifth for the dangerous Yandy Díaz, who was facing the starter for the third time. He watched three strikes go by, however, and Woods Richardson escaped any damage.

He had a much easier time in the sixth, including getting Caminero to tap out to complete a quick frame. I thought that may have been it for him, but he was brought out to start the seventh and allowed two hits to put runners on the corners with one out. Richie Palacios stole second, but Woods Richardson struck out Johnny DeLuca on a nasty slider to end his day. Kody Funderburk came on to retire pinch-hitter Nick Fortes on a weak chopper to quell the threat.

Old friend Griffin Jax pitched the seventh, gave up an infield single to Wallner (at that point responsible for both Twins hits)—and then promptly picked Wallner off leaving early from first.

Cole Sands got the eighth inning, and allowed a leadoff single to Díaz before falling behind Jonathan Aranda. He fought back to get a double-play grounder from Aranda and retired Chandler Simpson to leave Caminero in the on-deck circle. He would go on to complete a 1-2-3 ninth in dominant fashion.

After the Buxton, Luke Keaschall and Wallner contingent went down in order, Palacios greeted Justin Topa in the 10th by crushing a two-run home run.

Topa allowed another hit and a walk before Taylor Rogers was brought in, and the lefty walked two to force in another run, making the score 4-1. The Twins couldn't answer; Tampa took the rubber game of the weekend series.

Notes:

-Austin Martin started in center field despite the Twins facing a right-handed pitcher. This speaks to A) Buxton being eased back into action following what looked to be a brutal hit-by-pitch on Friday; and B) perhaps some dissatisfaction with James Outman, who has no idea what he's doing in the batter's box these days. Martin has looked terrible in center field thus far in his career, but he's looked decent at the plate in 2026, so maybe that's a worthwhile tradeoff. He wasn't tested much today and made every play he should have made.

-Buxton celebrated 10 years of service time prior to the game, but his hitless streak continued. He's now in an 0-for-19 skid. That isn't uncommon for Buxton, but he had better at-bats today, including a lineout and a fly ball to right that was just off the end of the bat. When he gets going, maybe this congregation of average-ish hitters plus a hot Josh Bell can find a spark.

-Rogers might be cooked. After allowing three hits and two runs Saturday, Rogers struggled to hit 90 MPH on his fastball while walking two, the second one forcing in the Rays' fourth run.

What’s Next: Joe Ryan (0-1, 4.89 ERA) opposes Casey Mize (0-0, 1.50 ERA) as the Twins welcome the Detroit Tigers to Target Field to begin a four-game set. The Tigers are certainly not bereft of talent and so far have the eighth-best OPS in MLB and the 11th-best ERA as a pitching staff, despite a middling 4-4 record. The Tigers have crushed the Twins in recent years and have made the postseason two years running, so this will represent perhaps the biggest test of the young season for the Twins.

Postgame Interviews:

(Coming soon)

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Laweryson	36	0	10	9	0	55
Topa	0	13	17	0	15	45
Rogers	0	4	0	23	18	45
Banda	12	0	17	15	0	44
Orze	0	0	37	0	0	37
Sands	0	11	0	0	21	32
Funderburk	0	15	2	0	3	20
Acton	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[Mike Sixel]

Wallner with only one RBI again. Totally his fault. 

SWR is a legit number four pitcher, unfortunately, the Twins are hitting like many of us is feared, and the bullpen stinks, as expected. 

[FlyingFinn]

Some people don't like Wallner but without him right now, we have multiple shutouts. Does anyone else hit for power? We didn't like so many strikeouts, me included, but a team that doesn't hit for power (or much of anything) and strikes out a lot is even harder to watch (or listen to).

[Hubie29]

25 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Wallner with only one RBI again. Totally his fault. 

SWR is a legit number four pitcher, unfortunately, the Twins are hitting like many of us is feared, and the bullpen stinks, as expected. 

Ya, what we need are more guys hitting sub .200, with a .256 OBP.  Solo home run every once in awhile is cherry on top.  That's how sad this line up is if Wallner gets you excited. 

[Dave Borton]

31 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Wallner with only one RBI again. Totally his fault. 

SWR is a legit number four pitcher, unfortunately, the Twins are hitting like many of us is feared, and the bullpen stinks, as expected. 

I follow the box scores and was curious how the Twins stack up with team hitting.

29th at .192, with only Cleveland below them.

[IndyTwinsFan]

24 minutes ago, Dave Borton said:

I follow the box scores and was curious how the Twins stack up with team hitting.

29th at .192, with only Cleveland below them.

You mean their team BA is that high?  Take that 15 run outburst out of the equation and it's probably about a buck fifty, if even that "high".

Pretty sad.

[jmlease1]

SWR did well at least? I'm still a fan of his, and right now he's looking like the hard-luck starter, which is a bummer. Camineiro's dinger was one that few hitters can do, and most good hitters wouldn't have swung at that pitch let alone golfed it out. 

Always nice to see Wallner crack one. Too bad no one else really showed up on offense. Serious indictment of Outman for him not to get the start in CF, IMHO. Wondering if the front office and the manager on the same page regarding him? (I'm not complaining if Shelton is refusing to start him)

Tough job by the bullpen, but when the offense is this somnolent expecting them to hold thing down forever is unrealistic. That said...yeesh, Topa. 

[Linus]

This game was a good example of what was feared for this team. We got a good start, the lineup was anemic and the bullpen finally caved. This new running philosophy is stupid. These guys are sleds and bad baserunners. Let Buck, Keaschall and Martin run - the rest of the tractors need to stay in the barn.  

[thelanges5]

The season is young but they are playing at a 108 loss pace and look the part. 

[Peter]

Had chances but with only 3 hits you’re not gonna win many games. SWR is legit-bullpen is a mess-why didn’t Royce and bell play today or pinch hit? Also I’m done with clemens at lead off and playing most games. We have young team and there’s a lot of talent and better then our record is. Tough week of games with Detroit and Toronto coming but I’m still going to watch twins most every game be it on TV or radio. I’m still a fan and always will be!!?

[sweetmusicviola16]

First thing to do is waive Outman and recall Roden. I'm not saying it is going to turn this team around but it's the right thing and smart thing to do. Simple and easy place to start.

[DarrenPS]

Maannn Sim looked good today, that homerun he gave up was a wild swing from Caminero, no clue how he got all of that. Don't blame the bullpen for the deficiency of the bats right now. Need Keaschall and Buxton to get out of their slumps or nothing else really matters. Baseball is a game of momentum and really only those two & Royce create their own (maybe Wallner too). Gotta get it back

[tony&rodney]

Binged a little on baseball today. Twins, parts of 2 Saints games, and the Kernels. 

Way too early to get down. April is tough for baseball and we all should be aware of the squad's limitations. I'm not seeing anyone give up. That is something. 

Simeon looked good. That ball that Caminero hit out was a tough pitch ... tip your hat. Hopefully the barrel of the bats starts to find the ball. I hope the Twins can pitch well too. The next week will be a challenge.

[rv78]

Have played 3 teams with below .500 records at this point, and the Twins went 1-2 against all 3. Tells you a lot about this team. They can't even beat other teams that aren't playing well. They are, what a lot of us thought they would be... Bad. Normally one would say they need to clean out the dead wood but that dead wood is what Falvey brought in the past couple of years, so they've got no one to turn to. The bonfire is going to be pretty big again this year at the trade deadline. Bye Bye Ryan, Buxton and Jeffers.

[jkcarew]

Sneaky bad team…really aren’t getting blown out (much) but finding ways to lose to teams that are not exactly good or anything close to ‘hot’.

Baltimore, KC, Tampa are now 6-3 vs the Twins, and 5-13 against everyone else. Series-wise, they’re 3-0 vs Twins, and 0-6 otherwise.

This club might actually be worse than they currently look.

[Nshore]

The Twins are the baseball version of "Apollo 13" - "What do we have on the ball club that's good?" 

[Vanimal46]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Wallner with only one RBI again. Totally his fault. 

This is starting to feel like the same conversation we were having about Joey Gallo. Except this time the ultimate wild card is there. Wallner is a Minnesota native...

[Vanimal46]

35 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Sneaky bad team…really aren’t getting blown out (much) but finding ways to lose to teams that are not exactly good or anything close to ‘hot’.

Baltimore, KC, Tampa are now 6-3 vs the Twins, and 5-13 against everyone else. Series-wise, they’re 3-0 vs Twins, and 0-6 otherwise.

This club might actually be worse than they currently look.

Bottom 3 in the MLB standings is entirely possible. That's what I predicted before Opening Day... We're gonna need the crop of offensive prospects like Culpepper to flash at SS, Jenkins/E-Rod in the OF, Gonzalez at DH/fill-in, etc,

[Blyleven2011]

Early season started in March  , way to early to have baseball in the north country with lousy weather most certain , both teams played through the rain , snow and cold  , someone has to win but it's not going to be the twins , extra inning loss by Topa  , he had a bad spring training and those stats don't count , he hasn't changed for the better for the regular season  ....

Tony & rodney says he hasn't seen anyone give up and that is true  , what i see is the team isn't showing  they want to win , their approach to hitting  ( they lack the talent in the brain ) it's awful  , no hitting the pitch the other way , behind a runner when need be to move them up and stay out of a double play ( simply pull everything )   , running game isn't what it was after deadline of last year , have we bunted yet ???

I noticed last year we were bunting some but there was always speed on third when we did ( buxton and Keirsey Jr  ) Andwe we were  successful  , so far this year it seems like jeffers is on third with less than two outs and we fail to score swinging away with no plan to place the ball , remember arraez always looked around the field before stepping into the box  , he had a plan and followed through alot , even arraez couldn't spark this team , it takes a team effort from the players that want to win , I'm sure they want to win but it just isn't showing  , I'll shut my trap if we win 12 in arow  ...

[ashbury]

24 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I noticed last year we were bunting some but there was always speed on third when we did ( buxton and Keirsey Jr  ) Andwe we were  successful 

The problem with this narrative is that, yes, stolen bases were up and sacrifice bunts were up in August and September, but actual run scoring per game was not up compared to June when they went 9-18 and the die was becoming cast. 

The operation was a success but the patient didn't get better.

[Blyleven2011]

10 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The problem with this narrative is that, yes, stolen bases were up and sacrifice bunts were up in August and September, but actual run scoring per game was not up compared to June when they went 9-18 the die was becoming cast. 

The operation was a success but the patient didn't get better.

When games are low scoring  , we need to find ways of pushing those runs across ..

.

We have new coaches and a manager and after 9 games nothing has changed from the past few years , as of now this team is worse than last  year  ( do we have 5 starters  ,  bullpen could use help and hitting could use a spark  , we don't have the ingredients for success right now ) ...

I'm not going to harp on the weather or the new coaches,  but I will on the players , we hardly have a superstar  ( buxton the closest ),  no clutch performing players  ...

Why wait till a quarter of the season is over to swap players out , we need a spark now and Tristan Gray is the only one so far that had a nice game ... 

[ashbury]

8 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

When games are low scoring  , we need to find ways of pushing those runs across ..

As the numbers last year bear out: didn't work when they tried that.

[Jack Pine]

3 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

First thing to do is waive Outman and recall Roden. I'm not saying it is going to turn this team around but it's the right thing and smart thing to do. Simple and easy place to start.

As previously mentioned Outman is aptly named.

[USAFChief]

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Wallner with only one RBI again. Totally his fault. 

 

3 HR...3 RBI.

Sensing a pattern developing. 

 

 

[tony&rodney]

If you didn't see this coming you weren't paying attention. Things can get better and we hope they do. Things can also get worse, which we hope they do not. Hope is about all there is for now.

A number of people have called for changes but there really isn't much to change right now. The best players in AAA are Kaelen Culpepper, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins among the position players. Andrew Morris is the best starting pitcher at AAA. All of these players could use more time at AAA to work on their game. Perhaps a few are ready by late May or in June.

I think that Falvey's Dream Team has come home to roost. It will take some time to sort things out. If you are watching you see some balls just eluding our guys but you also see some small improvements too. Wallner did some fair work on the grass today. Things could get tough through April and May. I'm expecting improvement in June. There is a shortage of ability. MLB players are all really good athletes compared to us but there is also quite an amount of separation within those who fill the MLB rosters. Keep the faith. No use pounding your head against the wall.

Or ... maybe that is a preference. I'm just trying to enjoy some baseball. That may sound polyannish but baseball is my refuge from current events. It gets me a few thumbs down and makes me step back .... so it goes.

[ashbury]

11 hours ago, USAFChief said:

3 HR...3 RBI.

Sensing a pattern developing. 

I do give him credit that each of those three was a valuable run.  Twice he put his team to an early 1-0 lead, and the other homer raised a lead from 2-1 to 3-1.  That's qualitatively different from last year.

The problem is that the rest of his 2026 so far has been Death by a Thousand Cuts.  Which is not qualitatively different from last year.

[knothole61]

7 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

I follow the box scores and was curious how the Twins stack up with team hitting.

29th at .192, with only Cleveland below them.

Dave, it feels every bit that bad! Even Buxton I wearing a tight collar. Not very many "professional at bats" either, the kind the Yankees almost alway take!

[knothole61]

6 hours ago, Peter said:

Had chances but with only 3 hits you’re not gonna win many games. SWR is legit-bullpen is a mess-why didn’t Royce and bell play today or pinch hit? Also I’m done with clemens at lead off and playing most games. We have young team and there’s a lot of talent and better then our record is. Tough week of games with Detroit and Toronto coming but I’m still going to watch twins most every game be it on TV or radio. I’m still a fan and always will be!!?

The Blue Jays are reeling at the moment: they are 4-5 (one game better than us) and were just swept by the White Sox. They may still be suffering a hangover from a World Series wherein, if only Kiner-Falefa had run through home plate and not slid, they would now be world champions! So the Twins might take that series. It will be tough to win more than a game against Detroit and their strong (Skubal and Valdez) lefty pitching, however.  

[KirbyDome89]

8 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Some people don't like Wallner but without him right now, we have multiple shutouts. Does anyone else hit for power? We didn't like so many strikeouts, me included, but a team that doesn't hit for power (or much of anything) and strikes out a lot is even harder to watch (or listen to).

Wallner has absolutely contributed to the offensive woes to start the season.

.192/.256/.444 with a near 50% K rate. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

8 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

If you didn't see this coming you weren't paying attention. Things can get better and we hope they do. Things can also get worse, which we hope they do not. Hope is about all there is for now.

A number of people have called for changes but there really isn't much to change right now. The best players in AAA are Kaelen Culpepper, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins among the position players. Andrew Morris is the best starting pitcher at AAA. All of these players could use more time at AAA to work on their game. Perhaps a few are ready by late May or in June.

I think that Falvey's Dream Team has come home to roost. It will take some time to sort things out. If you are watching you see some balls just eluding our guys but you also see some small improvements too. Wallner did some fair work on the grass today. Things could get tough through April and May. I'm expecting improvement in June. There is a shortage of ability. MLB players are all really good athletes compared to us but there is also quite an amount of separation within those who fill the MLB rosters. Keep the faith. No use pounding your head against the wall.

Or ... maybe that is a preference. I'm just trying to enjoy some baseball. That may sound polyannish but baseball is my refuge from current events. It gets me a few thumbs down and makes me step back .... so it goes.

Thanks for this thoughtful post.