The Twins played their home opener April 8, beating Seattle 10-2 to improve to 5-2 on the season. They had the next day off … and since then it's been one defeat after another, with 11 losses in 13 games. The issues have been many:
Anatomy of a Twins slump
The team's 5-2 start seems like a distant memory.
April 26, 2021 at 3:21AM
BAD OFFENSE
The Twins have scored a not-great 39 runs over the 13 games. But 18 of those runs came in just two games; in the other 11, the Twins scored a total of 21 runs, including two in each game of the Pittsburgh series.
BAD PITCHING
Sunday was the seventh time during this stretch the Twins have given up at least six runs, and the struggles have come from both starters and relievers. In the two games they combined to score 18 runs, they lost both.
UNEVEN SCHEDULE
The Twins' first homestand had a game postponed a day after the death of Daunte Wright. The Twins then had three games in California postponed by a COVID-19 outbreak. They are 0-4 in the doubleheader games following those postponements.
MISSING PLAYERS
Josh Donaldson and Miguel Sano already have been on the IL, and Andrelton Simmons and Max Kepler on the COVID-19 list, and Byron Buxton and Nelson Cruz have had to sit out some games, too.
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The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 2025 home games at the New York Yankees’ nearby spring training ballpark amid uncertainty about the future of hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field, Rays executives told The Associated Press.
