Twins top Royals 4-2 behind patient offense, solid pitching

When Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson sat on a podium for his news conference following Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, he had a piece of paper in front of him where he wrote all the key plays his teammates made that he wanted to mention.

Manager Rocco Baldelli gave a four-minute response to the first question posed to him as he tried to remember all the moments that stood out. In front of him was a lineup card with stars circled in nearly every spot.

“Under the radar, because there is no one highlight or two highlights that we’re all going to point back to this game about, but this is one of our best games of the season,” Baldelli said.

Almost every inning brought a different hero. Twins closer Jhoan Duran, pitching for the fourth time in the past five days, allowed two consecutive hits to open the top of the ninth inning, putting the tying run at first base. Catcher Christian Vázquez, however, threw out pinch runner Dairon Blanco attempting to steal second base, a strong throw angled toward the right side of second base, and Correa applied the tag in one swift no-look motion.

Duran says it relaxed him, striking out MJ Melendez on the next pitch.

“He’s incredible, you know?” Duran said of Correa’s tag. “For me, he lives on another planet.”

It wasn’t long ago when the Twins offense was at the root of a seven-game losing streak, slow to make in-game adjustments and unable to string together rallies.

With a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Byron Buxton drew a 10-pitch walk after fouling three fastballs and two splitters from reliever Carlos Hernández. Buxton swiped second base, advanced to third on a Willi Castro groundout and scored when Edouard Julien ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a bloop single up the middle.

“I think the highlight of the game was Willi moving him over,” Correa said. “That’s something I enjoyed a lot. He got a pitch he could move the runner over, didn’t try to do too much and that’s how you playing winning baseball. That says a lot about this team. Not just swinging for the fences every time, but also understanding the situations of the game.”

The Twins had a two-run lead after four batters against Cole Ragans, the Royals’ Opening Day starter who carried a 13-inning scoreless streak into Tuesday. Manuel Margot opened with an infield single, Correa crushed a double to left field and Jose Miranda followed with a two-run single up the middle.

In the fourth inning, Vázquez was credited with a double when Royals left fielder Garrett Hampson had a hard liner deflect off his glove. Two pitches after Hampson’s misplay, Margot clubbed a low changeup into center field for an RBI double.

“That’s just beautiful baseball we played today,” Correa said.

BOXSCORE: Twins 4, Kansas City 2

Woods Richardson, who permitted three hits and two runs in five innings, continues to pitch well in his first extended stretch in the big leagues. He retired 12 of his first 14 batters as he essentially tabled his changeup and curveball against a righthanded-heavy lineup, throwing only fastballs and sliders.

“He’s showing why we traded for him,” Correa said of Woods Richardson, who has yielded three runs in his past 15 innings. “Everything he’s done this year has kept us in games. … I love the guy. I love the work he’s put in to get to where he is right now. He’s one of our guys.”

After Woods Richardson maintained a one-run lead in the fifth inning, escaping a jam after a diving stop from Correa and a Bobby Witt Jr. flyout with the tying run on third base, Twins relievers Jorge Alcala, Josh Staumont and Griffin Jax combined to retire nine consecutive batters.

Woods Richardson, after watching it all, decided to write himself a note with the highlights.

“That was great, quality baseball,” Woods Richardson said. “It had to be noted and brought to light what our team did.”