MINNEAPOLIS -- That¡¯s how it was supposed to look.
The middle and late innings were supposed to be where the 2025 Twins shined the most, but as the team lost six out of seven over the past week, instead they had become a minefield. But on Sunday in a 5-1 win against the Tigers, the second half of the game belonged to the home team, emphatically so.
Set up by a key escape by starter Simeon Woods Richardson, four Twins relievers shut down the dangerous Detroit lineup and kept Minnesota from lamenting another might-have-been game.
¡°There¡¯s always a wow with our bullpen,¡± said Woods Richardson. ¡°Each guy has something unique and special that can be really, really effective at the big league level. When everybody¡¯s firing on all cylinders, it¡¯s tough not to be excited and watch that and support those guys.¡±
Twins relievers combined for four scoreless, hitless innings on Sunday. They walked one batter and struck out seven while facing the minimum. It was about as overwhelming as a relief corps can be. Over their previous seven games, the Twins had been outscored by 10 runs (17-7) after the fifth inning. On Sunday, they won the final four innings by a 3-0 count.
¡°That was cool,¡± said Byron Buxton, who homered and doubled in the win. ¡°When they come in, you know, that is my thing, I know how good they are and what they can do, so I¡¯m always looking for zeros. ¡ I believe in those guys. As soon as they come in, no matter what the situation is, they¡¯re going to make sure they hold that lead.¡±
Woods Richardson took a 2-1 lead into the fifth, recording two outs and bringing up the top of the order. But leadoff man Gleyber Torres singled, and lefty Danny Coulombe began to get loose. Woods Richardson hit the lefty-hitting Kerry Carpenter with a pitch, and pitching coach Pete Maki came out to talk to the starter before he faced the dangerous but slumping Riley Greene.
A similar situation had led to trouble two nights earlier. On Friday, Coulombe got starter David Festa out of a fifth-inning jam against Carpenter, but manager Rocco Baldelli was unwilling to bring Coulombe out for the next inning. Jorge Alcala walked the first two batters of the sixth in that game, setting up a decisive four-run inning and leading to a loss.
This time it was different. Woods Richardson got Greene to fly out to right field, the Twins had all their relievers available and Detroit never really was in business again.
¡°It really helps,¡± said Baldelli. ¡°It shortens the game for us. It leaves us in a spot where we¡¯re not trying to complete an inning with one of our relievers who may have pitched recently also. And then you just end up ahead.¡±
It started with Louis Varland, who looked as dominant as he ever has, striking out the side with a mixture of near-100 mph fastballs and tumbling knuckle curves against the middle of the Tigers' order. Cole Sands issued a walk and benefitted from a sparkling diving catch from Harrison Bader in left field, but didn¡¯t allow a run or a hit.
With six outs to go, the Twins had a three-run lead and their top two relievers lined up to finish the game. Griffin Jax, who was the team¡¯s best reliever last year but had a loss and a blown save within the last week, just overwhelmed the Carpenter-Greene-Spencer Torkelson heart of the order. And Jhoan Duran tossed a tidy 10-pitch ninth to finish it out.
¡°They were in complete control of the game,¡± said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, ¡°and then they got to kind of dictate who came in.¡±