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Posted
Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitchers: Simeon Woods-Richardson - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (92 pitches, 57 strikes (62% strikes))
Home Runs: Austin Martin (1), Ryan Kreidler (1)
Bottom 3 WPA: Simeon Woods Richardson (-0.39); Byron Buxton (-0.05); Matt Wallner (-0.04)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

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It Looked Promising
The Twins rolled into this game having already secured the series—making it three in a row—but every game counts as a team builds towards the later part of the spring. Extending their home winning streak to seven games would have been a wonderful way to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. Instead, dead lumber and lousy leather derailed them in the early innings, putting them in a hole they couldn't escape.

The Twins faced 24-year-old lefty Connelly Early, fresh off a late 2025 call-up and still very much in his rookie era. The hot-hitting home lineup welcomed him with a solo home run from Austin Martin, who dropped the barrel on a pitch down and in and pulled it out of the park.

Connelly settled in after that, though, and kept the Twins to two hits and one run for the next five innings, before handing things off to the beleaguered Boston bullpen.

New Bomba Squad?
While today wasn't a great example of multiple home runs, it doesn't take away from the fact that the Twins lineup has shown a lot of consistency in their hitting. It hasn’t mattered who teams send out to the mound. In fact, lefties have posed the team no problems, despite preseason expectations to the contrary.

Too early to say it? Maybe. But also… it’s starting to feel a little Bomba-ish. The Twins pull the ball in the air as much as almost anyone in baseball. They're unlikely to make history this time, but if they can keep slugging the way they did even on a down day Wednesday, everyone will have a more fun summer than was forecasted.

It's Not Over Until It's Over... or Something Like That.
Even in a game where the guys looked down and out, in the ninth inning, Derek Shelton's competitive bunch put up a fight. In the last of 15 straight games between off days, they could have mailed in what shaped up to be a blowout loss, but they didn't.

The Twins started chipping away when Tristan Gray sparked momentum with a single, followed by Matt Wallner drawing a walk to put some real traffic on the basepaths. Brooks Lee delivered, too, ripping an RBI single to bring a run home and keep the inning alive. Ryan Kreidler stepped in, then, and made things interesting, right at the death. He hit his second home run of the week, another no-doubter.

Suddenly, what felt like a comfortable 9-1 Boston lead had been cut in half, forcing a mound visit and a pitching change as the Red Sox tried to stop the surge. Minnesota didn’t just score—they made Boston sweat. Alas, the comeback fell far short.

Simeon Woods-Richardson entered the game hoping to bounce back after a rough outing against the Blue Jays, wherein he was reportedly pitching through illness. If that’s the case, it offers some context—because otherwise, the performance raised concerns for the young starter.

He looked sharp through the first two innings, but things unraveled quickly in the third. Three misplays by Luke Keaschall spread acorss two plays helped Boston score twice to flip the score. Trevor Story then delivered a three-run homer to blow the game open, extending the lead to 5-1.

Woods-Richardson battled through the fourth inning. Despite walking two more and having poor defensive support again, he managed to escape without further damage. In the fifth, he wasn't so lucky, and the Red Sox extended their advantage to 7-1. The Sox were on Woods Richardson all day, but he got such lousy support from his infielders that it's hard to hang the loss on him.

The bullpen gave up two more runs, neutering the eventual would-be rally before it could begin.

Jackie Robinson Day Celebrated
Today is a very special day across MLB: Jackie Robinson Day. It comes at a moment when the league feels like it has renewed momentum toward inclusion and diversity in the player ranks. Across the league, the percentage of Black players on Opening Day active and inactive lists increased from 6.0% in 2024 to 6.2% in 2025 to 6.8% in 2026. This marks the first time in at least two decades that MLB has had back-to-back years of increases in that percentage. The 0.6% increase from last year is the highest since a 0.7% increase from 2017 to 2018.

Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley are proud to be members of the fraternity of Black starting pitchers. Byron Buxton and Josh Bell have two of the four corner lockers in the Twins clubhouse, offering leadership and mentorship to teammates of all races. This is arguably the most important holiday on the baseball calendar; the Twins have much to celebrate, despite the loss.

What’s Next?
After an off day, the Twins will welcome the Reds to town for the weekend. On Friday, the team sends ace Joe Ryan to the mound (2-1, 3.80 ERA), to face Brandon Williamson (1-1, 5.28 ERA).

Postgame Interviews 
Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart 
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Posted

Today we saw the 61-101 team I was forecasting before the start of the season.  Shaky starting pitching after Lopez and Ryan? Check.  Ludicrous fielding to add to the misery?   Check. Bullpen comes on to pour gasoline immediately?  Check.  Non-existent offense while the game was still in doubt? Check.   Low-pressure rally against a AAAA opposing pitcher to put up a respectable looking final score?  Check.

Glad the 110-win team that no one anticipated has been with us the past couple of weeks or so  Somebody go find them and bring them back - they were enjoyable.  😁

Posted
14 minutes ago, ashbury said:

This was the 61-101 team I was forecasting before the start of the season, today.  Shaky starting pitching after Lopez and Ryan? Check.  Ludicrous fielding to add to the misery?   Check. Bullpen comes on to pour gasoline immediately?  Check.  Non-existent offense while the game was still in doubt? Check.   Low-pressure rally against a AAAA opposing pitcher to put up a respectable looking final score?  Check.

Glad the 110-win team that no one anticipated was with us the past couple of weeks or so  Somebody go find them and bring them back - they were enjoyable.  😁

Hope is not lost. We just need to clean house sooner than later before we lose all momentum. Quit riding with the guys that shouldn't be in the big leagues. ie; Banda, Orze, Topa, Outman to start. But we know ownership won't add payroll to to replace those guys with better talent. Banda would have a hard time cracking a town ball roster. Plus SWR, and Ober don't bode well in 40% of the games we are going to play.  Losing Lopez hurts!

Posted
2 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I hope today was 1 of the lose 54 and not an other 54 game.

That's why it's an entertaining quote from an old-timey manager, and not an actual recipe for analysis or nothin'.  😁  Another old quote may be more relevant.  You can sum up baseball in one word: "you never know."

Posted
22 minutes ago, Hubie29 said:

Hope is not lost. We just need to clean house sooner than later before we lose all momentum. Quit riding with the guys that shouldn't be in the big leagues. ie; Banda, Orze, Topa, Outman to start. But we know ownership won't add payroll to to replace those guys with better talent. Banda would have a hard time cracking a town ball roster. Plus SWR, and Ober don't bode well in 40% of the games we are going to play.  Losing Lopez hurts!

Yeah, my post really was nothing more than to say that the season is long, it has ups and downs, and you never know.  There's a 100-win team and a 100-loss team lurking inside of each squad* - which kind of goes along with the 54-54-54 formula.

 

* Except the Dodgers and Yankees, probably.

Posted

3 things that I stated were concerns were BP (I was hoping Banda would be better), below-average INF (especially up the middle) & lack of clutch hitting. All 3 played in this game.

Like Ober last year, he pitched sick & never really got back in sync. Hope SWR snaps out of it.

Posted

Mama said there would be days like these and she was right ....

Sloppy game , not all SWR 's fault , defense and offense ....

I like the Reds and Tito  but I sure hope we win the series ...

When you win 3 series in arow you start getting used to it , hope a day off the players rejuvenate themselves to play better  ...

Posted
1 hour ago, Hubie29 said:

Hope is not lost. We just need to clean house sooner than later before we lose all momentum. Quit riding with the guys that shouldn't be in the big leagues. ie; Banda, Orze, Topa, Outman to start. But we know ownership won't add payroll to to replace those guys with better talent. Banda would have a hard time cracking a town ball roster. Plus SWR, and Ober don't bode well in 40% of the games we are going to play.  Losing Lopez hurts!

You watch that filthy mouth when you talk about Orze. Twins are 6-1 when he pitches. Extend that out and we'll be, like, 139-23 if he pitches every day.

That's just math. 

Posted
2 hours ago, ashbury said:

Today we saw the 61-101 team I was forecasting before the start of the season.  Shaky starting pitching after Lopez and Ryan? Check.  Ludicrous fielding to add to the misery?   Check. Bullpen comes on to pour gasoline immediately?  Check.  Non-existent offense while the game was still in doubt? Check.   Low-pressure rally against a AAAA opposing pitcher to put up a respectable looking final score?  Check.

Glad the 110-win team that no one anticipated has been with us the past couple of weeks or so  Somebody go find them and bring them back - they were enjoyable.  😁

Every team has these games throughout a 162 game season. If you really are still forecasting a 61 win team, I'll take the over on that bet.

Posted
1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

3 things that I stated were concerns were BP (I was hoping Banda would be better), below-average INF (especially up the middle) & lack of clutch hitting. All 3 played in this game.

Like Ober last year, he pitched sick & never really got back in sync. Hope SWR snaps out of it.

It is hard to claim the Twins lack clutch hitting through their first 19 games - they have a higher than average runs scored when in scoring position. Taking one game and suggesting that proves the claim is, statistically speaking, lame.

Posted
23 minutes ago, arby58 said:

Every team has these games throughout a 162 game season. If you really are still forecasting a 61 win team, I'll take the over on that bet.

With more than 10% of the season now completed, it's a little late to get in on this lucrative action.  Eleven wins in the bank obviously changes the odds.  The highly professional sports book that I run will probably be crunching the numbers any day now to provide a revised betting line. Any.  Day.  Now.

(All of which is to say: I don't take any prognostications seriously including my own.  If I did, I certainly wouldn't have brought that one up.  😁 )

Posted
1 hour ago, ashbury said:

With more than 10% of the season now completed, it's a little late to get in on this lucrative action.  Eleven wins in the bank obviously changes the odds.  The highly professional sports book that I run will probably be crunching the numbers any day now to provide a revised betting line. Any.  Day.  Now.

(All of which is to say: I don't take any prognostications seriously including my own.  If I did, I certainly wouldn't have brought that one up.  😁 )

Wonderful equivocation. I predicted the Twins would be well over 62 wins at the start of the season. Are you moving off your prediction or not?

Posted
4 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

Hope is not lost. We just need to clean house sooner than later before we lose all momentum. Quit riding with the guys that shouldn't be in the big leagues. ie; Banda, Orze, Topa, Outman to start. But we know ownership won't add payroll to to replace those guys with better talent. Banda would have a hard time cracking a town ball roster. Plus SWR, and Ober don't bode well in 40% of the games we are going to play.  Losing Lopez hurts!

We don't need to overreact to one close loss, especially when the Twins still lead the AL.

Posted
1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

I like this Luke Keaschall fella.  It may be time to find him a real defensive home sooner rather than later, I don't think he can stick at 2B.

Long term I am a big fan. Short term? Might need a trip back to St Paul to find the stroke at the plate again. He won't be the first or last top prospect who needs a readjustment after a hot start to their MLB career.  

Posted
2 hours ago, ashbury said:

With more than 10% of the season now completed, it's a little late to get in on this lucrative action.  Eleven wins in the bank obviously changes the odds.  The highly professional sports book that I run will probably be crunching the numbers any day now to provide a revised betting line. Any.  Day.  Now.

(All of which is to say: I don't take any prognostications seriously including my own.  If I did, I certainly wouldn't have brought that one up.  😁 )

Wait, what was this app called AshburyTwinsDaily SportsBook that I just installed? That’s not yours? and I just loaded 3k onto to bet the Twins money line today? 

Posted
35 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Wait, what was this app called AshburyTwinsDaily SportsBook that I just installed? That’s not yours? and I just loaded 3k onto to bet the Twins money line today? 

Did you win that bet? I could use a Go Fund Me to support my tax payment to Uncle Sam today... 

Posted
2 hours ago, arby58 said:

Wonderful equivocation. I predicted the Twins would be well over 62 wins at the start of the season. Are you moving off your prediction or not?

I'll let you know sometime around August, September tops.

Posted

I was at the game today since it felt like a good 1/2 day opportunity at work. SWR earned his stat line with a WHIP of 2.60 as the Red Sox were absolutely all over him. Obviously Keaschall didn't help, but it's a learning process. Younger player trying to force things and be a hero rather than take what's there. 

The Twins continue to play hard. Definitely a different feel to the club so far this year.

Posted

Jackie Robinson's contributions to baseball are enormous, and obviously from more than just what he did on the field. Through not only coming into the league, but dominating it early on, he made sure the road was paved for some of the greatest players in MLB history to add to the game and help reduce biogtry.

Americans cling so hard to a ridiculous definition of black, though. Very little of the Atlantic slave trade ended in what would become the United States. Brazil, Columbia, and various island nations in the Caribbean saw the vast, vast majority of the forced transplants from the horrible practice. Nowadays, it's a political tool, not an ethnicity. Black means medium to dark brown skin, where somebody in the family tree can trace their ethnic roots back to somewhere in non-Eastern Africa, but only if those roots started between like 1500-1700 AD, and only if their forefathers were directly forced to what would become the United States so their forefather could have been a slave if they lived in the Confederacy, and only if the person doesn't speak Spanish or Portuguese, and only if the person considers themselves non-Islamic. Other people cannot qualify as black for MLB, but may in some other instances. 🙄 

Jackie Robinson paved the way for a heck of a lot more players than just our current 6.8% politically motivated definition of "black" and I think it does an injustice to overlook his broader impact.

Posted
9 hours ago, arby58 said:

It is hard to claim the Twins lack clutch hitting through their first 19 games - they have a higher than average runs scored when in scoring position. Taking one game and suggesting that proves the claim is, statistically speaking, lame.

My original statement of lack of clutch hitting was made in the beginning of the season.  I have also stated that I believe the bats would warm up. So if you followed me you'd know that Iast night's lack of clutch hitting,   in the beginning of the game was an exception, not the rule. On the other hand, the BP & INF problems are more serious & needs change. So if you followed me & try to put what I say into perspective, instead of looking for reasons to accuse, you wouldn't be so quick to call it lame.

Posted
7 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I was at the game today since it felt like a good 1/2 day opportunity at work. SWR earned his stat line with a WHIP of 2.60 as the Red Sox were absolutely all over him. Obviously Keaschall didn't help, but it's a learning process. Younger player trying to force things and be a hero rather than take what's there. 

The Twins continue to play hard. Definitely a different feel to the club so far this year.

I’m more concerned with SWR than Keaschall at this point. 

Posted

The middle of the diamond showed its ugly face in this one today. When you have a slow to react player at SS and a player at 2nd who seems to be unable to play the position it's going cost games. SWR didn't help things either by walking hitters,it hurts him every time he does. Again you can't give teams extra outs because they will take advantage.

Posted

I still remember two years ago they won 12 straight and missed the playoffs.  Last year they won 13 in a row and finished 20 games or so below .500. Just enjoy it while we can.

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