Twins 6, Rangers 4: Dean Kremer Puts Nail in Rangers' Coffin, Twins End 2026 on High Note

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Dean Kremer: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (74 Pitches, 49 Strikes, 66.2%)
Home Runs: Josh Bell (21), Royce Lewis (15)
Top 3 WPA: Bell (0.23), Kremer (0.22), Luke Keaschall (0.09)
Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant):

It’s the final day of the regular season, and some of the games still mattered, including the Twins' tilt against the Rangers at Target Field. A Rangers win paired with an Astros loss would have meant Texas had a ticket to the playoffs, albeit as a sub-.500 team. There isn’t a lot to like about this Texas team, as they trotted out MacKenzie Gore to start in this must-win game.

Gore has flashed some upside in the past—enough for the Rangers to target him over the offseason—but he’s never posted an ERA+ over 104. He was only allowed to face the Twins one turn through the lineup, and gave up a sacrifice fly to Josh Bell in the first following a Luke Keaschall walk and a Kaelen Culpepper single.

Dean Kremer got the ball for the Twins, and looked pretty sharp in spotting his cutter and splitter on both sides of the zone. He allowed a rocket home run to Danny Jansen in the third, but was otherwise in control, continuing his run of being very Carl Pavano-ish. Had the rest of the team fulfilled their end of the bargain post-trade deadline, his acquisition would have been seen as quite the coup. There's little doubt left about whether he'll be back next year, anyway.

After the Rangers lifted Gore with one out in the third, Chase Silseth came on and plunked Keaschall, before allowing a soul-crushing home run to Bell. Silseth was demonstrative after that result, but brother, it was a fastball middle-in, and you’re Chase Silseth, not Mariano Rivera... or Neftali Feliz... or heck, even Yoendrys Gómez. The venerable Jakob Junis came on for the fifth inning, allowed a single to Walker Jenkins and then walked three in a row to officially tank a sad, dumb season for the Rangers.

The score stayed there until Elias Díaz homered off of A.J. Minter to start the eighth. By that point, Houston had built a commanding lead against the A's and the game had taken on a more exhibition-like feel. It ended rather quietly, despite a late Royce Lewis homer and a blow by Corey Seager to bring Texas back within striking distance in the ninth.

Stuff I’m Tracking:

• Bell seemed to really want that 100th RBI, despite coming in needing seven to attain that number. He sure gave it a run, with three RBIs over the first three innings.
• Justin Morneau in the booth seemed really set on Brooks Lee being team MVP. A sub-.300 OBP would be my argument against that, but I do agree that he could be a starting third baseman on a winning team. You just don’t want him to be a focal point of said team.
• Keaschall now has a 122 OPS+ in over 800 plate appearances as a big-leaguer, with a .374 OBP. Have we considered putting him at first base next year? He’s been worth 3.0 fWAR, despite the defensive struggles.
• Lewis was caught stealing for the first time this year, making him 16-for-17. Hey, at least he's done all the little things besides be a good hitter, since apparently that’s off the table. His homer came in his final at-bat, which might be the last he takes as a Twin.
• Did anyone else find it weird how Texas was getting cute with matchups, lifting Gore early and using six pitchers over the first five innings? We’re not talking about a San Diego or Milwaukee bullpen here, just a lot of Kody Funderburk equivalents and a decent closer (Jacob Latz). It felt desperate, but then again, their situation was that and more.

What’s Next: I have no idea. I’m intrigued by Byron Buxton getting his hip fixed after half a decade of playing through pain there.

A lot of Victor Caratini.

Some competent starting pitching on paper.

Better defense on paper.

Possibly a farewell to:

• Ryan Jeffers
• Bell
• Taylor Rogers
• Lewis
• Trevor Larnach
• Austin Martin
• Joe Ryan
• A.J. Minter
• Bailey Ober
• Tommy Nance
• Matt Wallner
• Maybe even Emmanuel Rodriguez if the Twins really shuffle the deck with him out of options

Whatever's next, it's not coming right away. Today's a good day to savor the good memories this team gave us, and to lament the missed opportunity in such a wide-open American League.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Adams	0	0	0	40	0	40
Morris	23	0	0	0	16	39
Gomez	24	0	0	9	0	33
Rogers	0	0	8	14	0	22
Funderburk	0	0	19	0	0	19
Minter	7	0	0	0	9	16
Nance	0	0	11	0	0	11

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[Mai.K]

This marks the end of my 23rd season cheering for this lovable team from the other side of the world.

It was a season filled with regrets and disappointment, but compared to the final day of last season, I can still see a little more hope.

I hope the labor issues are resolved smoothly this offseason, and hopefully the ownership situation can be sorted out as well.

It wasn’t a good season, but I think it’s one I’ll remember for a long time.

Thank you to everyone for all your hard work this year. You all did a great job, and I truly appreciate it.

Blessings to every single player!!

[Saxophone Joe]

It’s over. Mixed emotions! Glad to see they went out strong and played spoiler. Bummed at what could’ve/might’ve been. Will miss the games but all things must pass. Time to find a new hobby until spring, when, hopefully, baseball returns. 😎

Had a blast talking Twins over here for sure. Good stuff, gang! 

[Saxophone Joe]

Loved seeing the team salute the fans after the game. Felt genuine. 

[HarmonK03]

25 minutes ago, Mai.K said:

I hope the labor issues are resolved smoothly this offseason, and hopefully the ownership situation can be sorted out as well.

I am curious as to what needs to be sorted out with the ownership situation, the Pohlads own them with minority investors brought in last year.  Is something changing that's been reported.

[LastOnePicked]

Listened on the radio. So much back-slapping and praise for a 77 win team. I get it - it's their job. But it's nauseating.

Curious to see what Shelton, Zoll and Pohlad have to say. But I suspect that there's going to be a lot of self-congratulation and a lot of hope-mongering. Hope can be a lovely thing, but if this team doesn't deal with reality, it's never going to be able to build a winning future.

This is a sub-.500 baseball team that missed the playoffs in the most winnable WC in memory. That's the reality.

This season was a failure. Period. They have some good things to build on for next year, but so does every major league team. With the season on the line, this team played the worst baseball in all of the American League. When the pressure was off, they went 6-2. Something about this organization that just cannot rise to meet the moment.

That may change. It may all come together next year. But I gotta see it happen before I'll believe it. I'm done with the hype and the hope at this point. I want to see this team take its failures seriously before it starts selling its future.

[Vanimal46]

Only 85 losses baby!!! 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

It was a tough slog, but we finally made it.

[DJL44]

Kremer ends up with the 4th highest WAR of all pitchers on the team this season.

[chinmusic]

How about that Dean Kremer.! Great performance in game 162.

[DarrenPS]

Win the game, fall to 11th in lottery odds. Lose the game, move up to 7th. We should not be celebrating this victory

[um_stevenel]

My thought for Keaschall is DH / utility fielder. Play every day, but most at DH with a spattering each of playing 1b / 2b / COF to spot a day off to those guys.

OF I want to see Roden-Jenkins-Rodriguez (assuming Buxton isn’t ready for opening day). If they let Rodriguez go at this point, it might be for pennies on the dollar.