SB Nation • 6 min read

Phillies 2, Twins 1: Good—bye

Before any mention of diamond activity, I want to dispense the heartiest of thank-you’s to all the writers and commenters here on Twinkie Town. For the most part—let’s say June onward—this has been a horrible

season. The Pohlad ownership group flipped fans the perpetual bird, your favorite player (minus Byron Buxton, ironically) was likely either hurt most of the season or traded away, and by late-September the lineup and bullpen was largely staffed by guys who should be in the minors. Yet, through it all, many of you stuck around deep into the morass to continue commentating. I’ve mentioned this before, but this year even I found myself contributing to more game thread commentary than ever before. So, thank you all for making this a top-flight Minnesota Twins community—come hell or high water.

In terms of the actual baseball played today, Twins SP Simeon Woods-Richardson closed his 2025 campaign out on a high note: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 9 K.

Alas, Cristopher Sanchez matched him hurl for hurl: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 8 K. A true pitcher’s duel (or possibly just two teams with nothing left to play for along very different reasonings).

The visitors finally dented the scoreboard in T6 when Austin Martin walked and was propelled along the base paths (capped off by a dive into the plate) via Ryan Jeffers’ double. 1-0 MIN.

It looked like the Twins might carry that 1-0 line over the finish line—until old friend Max Kepler said “nahhh—you aren’t getting out of Philly that easily”, smashing a solo shot off Genesis Cabrera in B8. 1-1 tie.

So, in the ultimate of ironies, when Cole Sands polished off a clean B9 the season that every Twins fan wanted to be over was extended into Bonus Baseball (TM).

Of course, YOUR 2025 Twims (intentionally spelled wrong in keeping with the year-long meme) failed to score in T10, leading to another irony (will they ever cease?!): the season came to a close on a sacrifice fly that sent another old-friend-turned-competitor Harrison “Darth” Bader scampering home.

Your Sunday afternoon final: Philadelphia Phillies 2, Minnesota Twins 1

Your 2025 Minnesota Twins final: 70-92

I already said my thank-you’s up top and will not initiate the Midwestern 30-minute goodbye (I prefer the Irish variety). To paraphrase the sing-along that ended each day of kindergarten (thank you, Mrs. Hosch)…

“Goodbye now, goodbye now, the clock says we’re done…I’ll see you next season, goodbye everyone”

Studs

Everyone who penned a post or concocted a comment on Twinkie Town this season. We appreciate you!
Woods-Richardson: Should the Pohlads decide not to continue tearing down the roster, one can still dream on a Lopez-Ryan-Ober-Matthews-SWR rotation in 2026