[jksander]

April 22, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (0-1, 4.64 ERA, 21.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) pitched against Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (1-2, 4.18 ERA, 23.2 IP, 31 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) in our first game of the year at Target Field. Luis Robert Jr hit an RBI single that, coupled with an E9 error, allowed us to take the lead in the top of the first. We added on with a walk by Kyle Teel, but they got one back in the bottom of the inning when Byron Buxton hit a line drive double to drive home Will Castro. Joey Gallo led off with a homer in the top of the third, his first dinger of the season, but the Twins stayed hot on our tails, Buxton hitting another double to drive home Matt Wallner as they kept within a run, our lead 3-2 heading into the top of the fourth. Syndergaard got us through the fifth inning, and we brought out Shane Smith in the sixth, Miguel Vargas hitting a solo homer in the top of the seventh to get us into the stretch leading 4-2. Penn Murfee took over with one out and men on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, getting one out but then allowing Royce Lewis to hit an RBI single that drove in two, tying the game and blowing the save. We called out Clevinger in the bottom of the eighth, and with one out he gave up a fastball to Carlos Correa, who hit it out of the park and gave the Twins a 5-4 lead. But we loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, and Mike Tauchman got a line drive into right field, driving in a pair to shoot us back into the lead! Brandon Eisert came out to close it out, and he pitched around a single by Will Castro to shut them down and complete the 6-5 win! Clevinger got the win, improving to 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA after a hit, a strikeout and an earned run, while Eisert saved his fourth game and continued his solid start ... he has an 0.47 WHIP right now through his first seven appearances over 6.1 innings. We outhit Minnesota 8-6, led by Miguel Vargas who hit three times and walked once, scoring three and batting in another.

April 23, 2025: Jonathan Cannon (0-2, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 12 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Chris Paddack (1-0, 4.56 ERA, 19.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.45 WHIP), and the Twins took the lead in the bottom of the second off an RBI single by Trevor Larnach. They added a two-run homer from Carlos Correa in the bottom of the fourth, and Cannon got us through the fifth inning on just eight pitches, saving us from having to hit the pen too early. Luis Robert Jr hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to get us on the board, and Kimbrel took over in the bottom of the inning, getting us through two innings without any trouble at all. Shane Smith came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting us into the ninth with a chance, but our offense stayed quiet and they beat us with relative ease 3-1. Cannon went five innings with four hits and four strikeouts, but he walked five batters and allowed them three earned runs, falling to 0-3 with a 4.30 ERA. They outhit us 5-3, our only offense being Luis Robert Jr’s homer.

Austin Slater’s rehab assignment following his hamstring strain has gone well, but that leaves us with a roster crunch ... Starling Marte is earning $19.5 million this year and refuses to consider a demotion, and Tauchman is one of our most consistent hitters. We’ve decided to send Corey Julks down to AAA and move Slater over to left field, and he’ll return to our 26-man roster in time to be on the bench for tomorrow’s game.

April 24, 2025: Ryan Weber (1-2, 2.74 ERA, 23.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched against Elberson Castellano (2-1, 5.65 ERA, 14.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.74 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Minnesota. They took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Matt Wallner, and they added on with an RBI single by Carlos Correa. Trevor Larnach hit an RBI double, and we were in a 3-0 hole before we even came up to hit for a second time. Martin Perez took over in the bottom of the fifth still trailing by three, and Penn Murfee came out in the sixth. In the top of the seventh we finally got something going, Sterling Marte hitting a two-run homer to put us back within a run. Justin Dunn came out with two outs and Will Castro on first in the bottom of the seventh, but his third batter faced, Carlos Correa, hit an RBI single that drove in two more runs to stick the dagger in. Tyler Gilbert took over with runners on first and second, but they added on another run before we finally got out of the inning. Gilbert stayed out the rest of the way and we would go on to lose this one 7-3. Weber fell to 1-3 with a 3.33 ERA, allowing four hits, a walk and three earned runs with three strikeouts. We were outhit 11-7, our offense led by Marte’s two hits, one run and three RBIs including his third homer of the season.

We now hold a 7-18 record, putting us in a very distant last place in what is shaping up to be a competitive division, with Kansas City (15-10), Minnesota (14-11), Detroit (14-11) and Cleveland (12-12) all within 2.5 games of each other. We’ll head west now to face the Los Angeles Angels (11-14) in a three-game series, and will then return to Rate Field to play Milwaukee (15-11) and the Athletics (12-12).