Minnesota Twins fall to 4-11 on the season with 4-0 loss to Detroit Tigers

Finally, the Twins got a break.

Shut out all afternoon by Tigers rookie Jackson Jobe, who looks like he will be a problem for them for years to come, the Twins were about to have two runners on base for the first time since the first inning. Detroit second baseman Colt Keith was standing off the bag as he took an eighth-inning throw for the forceout, and Jose Miranda slid in as umpire Malachi Moore held his arms wide: Safe!

But this is the 2025 Twins, for whom nothing seems to go right. Miranda didn’t see the umpire, assumed he was out and began walking toward the dugout. Keith tagged him for the eighth inning’s second out, and the Twins offense fizzled again.

And as for Miranda, he might not be back in the big leagues for a while.

Detroit handed the Twins their third consecutive loss, sixth in seven games and second shutout of the season, 4-0 at Target Field. And just like that, this year’s Twins now own a 4-11 record, tying the worst 15-game start in team history.

“Everyone goes through challenging times. You can’t succumb to despair or emotion when things are just not pumping your way,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You’ve got to shock yourself sometimes and wake yourself up sometimes. We might be pretty close to that because we’ve got to play better baseball.”

He didn’t reveal what sort of shock he has in mind, but nothing seems to work for the Twins offense this season. They managed only four hits Saturday, each of them singles until Carlos Correa’s ninth-inning double, and never more than one per inning.

The Twins’ batting average dropped to .204 on the young season, and for the 10th time in 15 games, they scored in fewer than three innings. They have yet to score a third-inning run all season.

Willi Castro reached second base in the first inning, but the base remained untouched by the Twins until Correa arrived eight innings later.

That includes Miranda, who was demoted to Class AAA St. Paul later Saturday; no corresponding move was announced. Miranda actually didn’t make contact with second base on the bizarre play. He was shaking his head in disbelief after the game.

“I just didn’t know [I was safe]. I slid in, but [Keith] had the ball. I thought he would throw to first” to complete a double play, Miranda said. “But I had no clue. Not until he tagged me.”

Miranda called the play “a learning thing,” and Baldelli agreed. He hopes the learning is quick.

“We have to do better. Jose has to do better on that play,” Baldelli said. “The umpire was clearly signaling safe. We have to be paying attention, to say the least. We have to be paying attention there and never allow something like that to happen.”

BOXSCORE: Detroit 4, Twins 0

MLB standings

Actually, the worst thing to happen to the Twins might be Jobe’s first career victory, the first of many if he keeps pitching like this. The rookie kept the Twins off balance with a four-pitch mix, and though he recorded only two strikeouts, 12 of the Twins’ 13 hardest-hit balls were turned into outs.

“The stuff is there. He made a lot of good pitches today,” Baldelli said. “We weren’t able to win at-bats the way we need to.”

Worst of all, they wasted Chris Paddack’s return to effectiveness. The righthander, his ERA a wince-inducing 14.73 after two starts, was the strike-thrower the Twins hoped for Saturday. He gave up only two hits, both singles, in five innings, but both times added a walk that allowed the Tigers to turn them into runs.

One was unearned, of course, a common occurrence since the Twins have committed eight errors in their past five games.

Still, it was a heartening start for Paddack, coming back from a shoulder injury that cost him three months last year.

“I’m very satisfied with where the stuff was today, how the body felt, the execution of the game plan. Did a lot of things well,” Paddack said. “Just got to eliminate some of those walks. Not pleased with leadoff walks that are leading into runs. [But] I can eliminate that.”

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The Twins held Detroit to five hits, allowed the Tigers to put runners on base in just three of the nine innings, and blanked them, 0-for-4, with runners in scoring position. Kody Funderburk, in his 2025 debut, gave up a two-run homer to Spencer Torkelson in the sixth, but the Twins bullpen retired the final 10 hitters in order.

None of it matters, though, if they can’t score.

“We’ve got to play better baseball, and it’s not just one or two guys,” Baldelli said. “We have to play better team baseball.”