The longest Twins winning streak in 33 years was stopped with a 9-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, ending a two-week stretch in which the Twins had the top-scoring offense in the major leagues and a pitching staff with a 3.08 ERA.
“It was special,” shortstop Carlos Correa said of their 12-game winning streak. Here’s how they did it:
April 22: Twins shut out White Sox 7-0
The offense had its biggest outburst in weeks with Max Kepler, fresh off the injured list, delivering a two-run double in the first inning. Chris Paddack struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings.
“It’s never fun to go back in a locker room after a game and it’s always quiet, no music is playing and the vibes are pretty down,” second baseman Edouard Julien said. “It’s good to be back on the winning side.”
April 23: Twins walk off White Sox 6-5
Down by a run in the ninth inning, Byron Buxton lined a leadoff homer on reliever Steven Wilson’s second pitch. After Carlos Santana drew a one-out walk and Ryan Jeffers hit a pinch-hit double, Alex Kirilloff delivered a walk-off single to right field.
“How about that win? That’s a nice one,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “If you want to be successful, you’ve got to find ways to win games that are really not going your way.”