Rockies 8, Twins 5: Rockies Outlast Twins Behind Hunter Goodman's 3-Homer Night

Box Score
SP: Mike Paredes 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (74 pitches, 51 strikes (69%))
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Kody Funderburk (-0.24), Paredes (-0.15), Royce Lewis (-0.13)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

After a ludicrous blown lead and extra inning comeback victory on Friday night, the Twins looked to take further advantage of a 50-loss Colorado Rockies club. Standing in their way was a familiar starter named Michael Lorenzen, who hadn't won a game since April with a 6.40 ERA in his last seven games. Standing on the mound for the Twins was the rookie Mike Paredes and his 4-6 innings of opener energy. On paper this game looked to be another offensive slugfest. In reality it was just plain offensive for the home team.

Hunter Goodman is a Bad Man
Goodman tried to ruin the night with a ninth inning blast on Friday night to give the Rockies the momentary lead. He tried to ruin the night from the start on Saturday night with a first inning moonshot against Paredes' non-sweeping sweeper. The Twins manufactured a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game back up as Trevor Larnach singled, Byron Buxton took one for the team, and then Kody Clemens notched his 33rd RBI with a single to plate Larnach with nobody out. Just when you thought Lorenzen's track record was going to keep on spinning, he fooled Josh Bell on a first pitch changeup and then got Victor Caratini and Royce Lewis to ground out to end the threat.

Paredes escaped some base clutter in the top of the second, but he couldn't escape Goodwin in the top of the third. His 24th home run of the year was less majestic, but just as damaging as the Rockies retook the lead at 2-1. 

Bending But Not Breaking...
The Twins couldn't muster anything in the early innings against Lorenzen, as he effectively mixed speeds and kept the Minnesota bats away from solid contact. Paredes held his own through the majority of his outing, but another big blast by Jake McCarthy in the top of the fifth led to the third Rockies run. With two runners on in the top of the sixth and only one out, Derek Shelton went to his trusty bullpen and veteran lefty Taylor Rogers. Rogers had been struggling of late, but he looked like the Rogers of old and got his team out of the jam tonight.

With Lorenzen still throwing in the bottom of the sixth, Bell got the Twins back on the board with a booming triple!

Caratini drove a ball deep into the left field corner for a sacrifice fly to immediately score Bell to cut the gap to 3-2. Brooks Lee tried to facilitate the completion of the rally with a ringing two-out double, but Tristan Gray kept his 30 percent strikeout percentage alive and well to end the threat.

Bullpens Beyond Broken
Goodman hit his third home run of the night, and it was a three-run shot. Rogers only needed nine pitches in the sixth, but Shelton inexplicably brought in the least-rested member of the bullpen to face a lead-off lefty in the top of the seventh. Kody Funderburk was that man, and he pitched poorly yet again tonight. The aforementioned lefty McCarthy ripped a single, and then Funderburk walked the pinch-hitting righty, Ezequiel Tovar. McCarthy and Tovar pulled off a double steal while Funderburk was focusing in on Goodman. With a full count staring him in the face, Funderburk decided that a center-cut 90 mph sinker was the best plan of action against the hottest hitter in the league. It left at 113 mph and the Rockies lead was jacked up to 6-2.

The Twins continued to flounder at the plate as the game reached its disappointing conclusion, but there was a moment of hope for the Twins in the midst of their league-worst bullpen 5.30 ERA in the month of June. Marco Raya made his long-awaited major league debut in the top of the eighth. He fit right in, as he promptly walked the lead-off man and gave up a gopher ball to Kyle Karros after falling behind to him as well. 8-2 Rockies. Raya did notch his first career strikeout to end the frame, against Goodman no less! Raya pitched a scoreless ninth to end his debut outing.

The Rockies sent the literal worst bullpen pitcher in the majors out on the mound for the bottom of the ninth, and his name is Zach Agnos. He promptly made Royce Lewis look foolish on an undisciplined swinging strike out. Lewis' lack of effort looked even worse given what came next. Lee refused to swing at balls out of the zone, and he was rewarded with a single. Even Gray got a single because he laid off the pitches Royce couldn't, and then Luke Keaschall worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Larnach refused to swing at non-strikes, cleared the bases with a double to creep the Twins within three at 8-5 and to chase Agnos from the game!

The next man up for the Rockies was Friday night's losing pitcher Jimmy Herget and his sidearm craftiness. Buxton got ahead 2-0 but popped up a hanging sweeper to leave the rally to pinch-hitting Austin Martin who entered the game in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement for Kody Clemens. Why did Shelton make that move down six runs while he left in Buxton and others? Your guess is as good as mine, but it meant the left-handed Clemens was watching from the bench as Martin flew out to end the rally. It's too bad FanGraphs hasn't figured out how to measure WPA for managers, because Shelton was on fire tonight.

What’s Next?
The Twins hope to salvage their 12th series win in 2026 against the hapless but pesky Rockies on Sunday afternoon. Lefty Connor Prielipp (2-5, 5.17 ERA) will look to get his season back on track before he reaches his Twins-mandated load limit. The Rockies will send young righty Ryan Feltner (2-2, 4.79 ERA) in hopes of winning only their ninth series in 2026.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet