Minnesota Update, 7.4.2023
The Twins have an actual rally, the Wild get a Dad, the Wolves search the couch cushions, and it's time for all of us to just start watching the Saints.
There was a moment in the eighth inning of Monday’s Twins win against Kansas City when I realized what it seems like Minnesota has been missing all season.
It wasn’t when Edouard Julien led off the inning with a towering homer to right field, one that gave the Twins the lead back, after they’d given it away in the top of the eighth. It wasn’t even when Michael A. Taylor pulled off a safety squeeze, scoring Joey Gallo to make it 5-3.
It was a couple of batters later, when Alex Kirilloff singled. It was, in the box score, the fifth consecutive Twins hit, all singles; it made the game 8-3.
When was the last time the Twins got five consecutive hits, four of them with runners in scoring position?
When was the last time the Twins had an inning like this - an old-fashioned rally?
One of them was from Carlos Correa, who had four hits, including three singles with two strikes in the count. I can actually tell you the last time Correa had four hits in a game; it was September 9 of last season.
We’re going to keep hearing about how the Twins’ hitters have taken back control from their evil hitting-coach overlords, or however this story will go, but if part of the story is that Correa chokes up with two strikes and just puts the ball in play, I think we’ll have to count that as a success.
The rally also led to a faintly hilarious ninth inning, as the Twins nervously inserted Emilio Pagán to protect a five-run lead. Naturally, he got two outs, then gave up a double and a walk and another double, and the crowd booed him as the Twins panicked and got Griffin Jax warming up. Up by four, but Pagán is on the mound? SOUND THE ALARMS!
Anyway, nobody on the roster struck out more than once, the Twins scored runs without having to hit home runs, and the team was 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position. This may have been the best Twins offensive performance of the entire season.
In non-game news, the Wild and the Timberwolves have both made some moves too. First, the Wild traded for rough-and-tumble forward Patrick Maroon, giving Tampa Bay a seventh-rounder for the NHL penalty-minutes leader. Maroon is likely a cheaper replacement for Ryan Reaves, who signed with Toronto in free agency.
I remember Maroon mostly for this moment from six years ago, when - in true Dad fashion - he cried during a postgame interview, after seeing a clip of his young son celebrating a goal he’d scored in St. Louis, his hometown. It’s hard not to root for someone who’s that much of a dad.
Also, the inimitable Michael Russo reported that Maroon was staying with teammate Ryan McDonagh when the trade happened, and also went to a bonfire with Alex Goligoski tht evening, which seemed like it was designed to make everybody else in the NHL jealous.
It felt like high school. There was a bonfire that Alex and Ryan and Pat went to? How come I wasn’t invited?
The Wolves, meanwhile, finalized their expected extension with Anthony Edwards, who is now signed through the 2028-29 season. It’s probably for the best that they got everything squared away now, since everyone knew they were going to try to sign Edwards for as long as possible.
If you see strange men going through your couch cushions, that’ll be Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, looking for spare change to try to avoid the luxury tax somehow.
I’ve started wondering if maybe the Twin Cities wouldn’t just be happier, in general, if we all started paying attention to the St. Paul Saints in place of the Twins. The Saints win pretty much every day and they score a ton, and the AL Central is practically Triple-A level anyway. Why not forget about the majors and start following the International League standings instead?
St. Paul completed a six-game sweep of Gwinnett, coming back to win 6-4. The Saints were hitless through five innings, but Kyle Garlick hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to tie it, and Trevor Larnach went deep in the bottom of the eighth to provide the winning runs. Garlick and Larnach were both 2-for-4, and drove in three runs apiece.
The Saints have the early lead in the second-half standings, and now head to Des Moines for six games against their hated rivals, the Iowa Cubs (EDITOR: please delete if Iowa and St. Paul are not, in fact, hated rivals.)
TODAY’S SLATE
TWINS vs Kansas City, 1:10pm
SAINTS at Iowa, 7:08pm
ON DECK
LYNX vs Indiana, Wednesday
LOONS vs Austin, Saturday
AURORA vs Chicago City (at Flint, MI), Thursday
CROWS at Thunder Bay, Friday
DOUBLOONS vs Real Monarchs, Sunday
Correa had gotten 4 hits every game I've been to this year. I don't see what everyone is complaining about. 😜