Baseball. What is it?
Well, if it’s anything like the bowl of miso soup I had last night, it used to be pretty good! But, it’s over now.
Tonight, the Twins hung with the San Diego Padres for the first half of tonight’s Saturday evening contest. But after starter Mick Abel came in for a little piggyback relief, and immediately saw six runs charged to his ledger against only three outs recorded, what was once a promising tight-knit affair became a decisive San Diegan stomping.
Some credit is due to be
dished out tonight, so let’s start there. Taj Bradley was much improved in his second start with Minnesota, making his way through five innings with just one hit allowed to a potent Padres lineup. While the usual control issues reared their head — Bradley walked three — the only real damage that the Dads were able to generate themselves came on one swing from Elias Diaz.
In the meantime, the Twins were at work scoring their three runs. James Outman would do a little manufacturing in the third inning, reaching on an infield single, stealing second, and taking the extra 90 feet to score on an RBI single from Trevor Larnach.
Then, after Diaz had tied the game in the top of the fifth, Minnesota would take the lead back on a two-run homer from — who else? — Byron Buxton, one of the last hearts still beating on the 2025 team. Buxton’s 28th homer was one of just two real impact swings against San Diego starter Nick Pivetta, who looked far more dominant tonight than his five-inning, six-strikeout pitching line would imply.
With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth, Rocco’s Magical Arm Barn kicked into gear, and the game completely fell apart. The plan was for Mick Abel to piggyback with Bradley and take this game most of the rest of the way. But a lengthy sixth — Luis Arraez reached on an error to lead things off, before three singles and a walk peppered across two more runs for the Friars — put those plans into jeopardy.
Then, the Twins switched off Jeopardy and threw on Wheel of Fortune, and baby, they went bankrupt.
Then, the Twins switched off Wheel of Fortune and threw on Family Feud, and baby, that big red “X” with the loud buzzer kept comin’ on the screen.
Then, the Twins switched off Family Feud and threw on Press Your Luck, and baby, let’s just say, “yes, whammies.“
It was a seventh inning so abysmal, it deserved three contrived metaphors. To accurately illustrate the pure drudgery of a frame in which the Padres scored seven runs against two completely downtrodden Twins relievers, you sort of need a play-by-play. Here’s how it all went down:
- Tatis Jr. singles
- Arraez singles
- Machado singles; Tatis Jr. scores SD 4 – MIN 3
- O’Hearn singles; Arraez scores SD 5 – MIN 3
- Brooks Kriske relieves Mick Abel
- Laureano pops out (1 out!)
- Sheets singles; Machado scores SD 6 – MIN 3
- Iglesias lines out (2 outs!)
- Cronenworth doubles; O’Hearn and Johnson score SD 8 – MIN 3
- Diaz homers; Cronenworth scores SD 10 – MIN 3
- Tatis Jr. walks
- Arraez walks
- Machado grounds out
It took Mick Abel and Brooks Kriske a combined 103 pitches to get through an inning of work each. Even when the run-scoring had finally ceased for San Diego, the continued walks and steady stream of completely uncompetitive at-bats killed the game as much as the sudden 10-3 score did.
And the Padres were by no means finished — Genesis Cabrera would surrender a two-run shot to Laureano in yet another laborious inning of relief work. But guess what? The lone shutout inning, a very breezy ninth, belonged to Ryan Fitzgerald.
That about sums it up.
Also, I think I have written “yup, that about sums it up!” in every single recap since July 5th (see the preview.)
So, it will not be an early victory for Minnesota this weekend. They still have a shot to upset the Padres tomorrow, but it will require the sort of bounceback performance that this assemblage is not particularly known for. But it’s Labor Day weekend! So, what else are you gonna do? Check that bad boy out. I’ll see ya tomorrow.
STUDS:
SP Taj Bradley (5 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K)
CF Byron Buxton (1-for-2, R, 2 RBI, BB, HR)
DH Trevor Larnach (2-for-3, RBI)
LF/CF James Outman (2-for-3, 2 R, SB)
DUDS:
RP Mick Abel (IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, BB, K)
RP Brooks Kriske (IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, HR)
RP Genesis Cabrera (IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K, HR)
3B Royce Lewis (0-for-4, 2 K)
The Pohlads