NORTH PORT, Fla. – The ballpark is named CoolToday Park, after a local air conditioning company, but to the Twins, the Braves' spring home might as well be known as AlwaysFrozen.
That's how they play here, anyway.
Chris Sale and six Braves relievers shut out the Twins for the third time this spring, extending Minnesota's scoreless streak in this park to 30 consecutive innings, and the Twins lost their fifth consecutive Grapefruit League game 4-0.
The Twins' problems in North Port extend well beyond this spring, though. They have never won a game in the Braves' 5-year-old hold, going 0-11-1 with 11 consecutive losses since managing a 4-4 tie in their first trip here in 2020. They have been outscored 62-23 here, and been shut out five times. By contrast, the Twins are 5-5 against Atlanta in Fort Myers over that span.
Fortunately for the Twins, none of it counts once the regular season begins, so they were able to see good signs in Bailey Ober's outing. The righthander allowed only four hits while striking out six in 4⅓ innings. They accounted for four runs, however, because Marcell Ozuna slugged a three-run first-inning home run into the Twins' bullpen in left-center, and Austin Riley drilled a third-inning fastball onto the berm in left field, a solo shot.
"A couple of things to clean up," Ober said after his 78-pitch outing, "but I feel good. I feel ready to go."
The Twins, now 8-19-3 in the exhibition season, play their final game Tuesday in Hammond Stadium against the Braves, then fly to Kansas City that night to prepare for Thursday's season opener.
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