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2024 – The Twins lost to the Cleveland Guardians at Target Field 3-1. Joe Ryan (0-1) started and took the loss for Minnesota. Ryan lasted 6 innings (90 pitches) allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 7. The big blow was a 3-run home run by David Fry in the second inning. Carlos Carrasco started for Cleveland but took a ND after pitching 3 innings. The Twins actually scored first when Carlos Correa walked and Alex Kirilloff tripled him home. The triple was the Twins first and last hit of the game until the ninth when Correa singled and was stranded. Kirilloff now has hit a triple in three consecutive games, a feat that has been done like four times now in Twins history with Eddie Rosario being the last to do it. Along the way the Twins struck out 14 times and were 0 for 11 with RISP. Yikes! They took 7 walks and were HBP three times. Terry Francona no longer manages Cleveland but they still used 7 pitchers in the game. Box Score
2023 – The Home Opener originally planned for today against the Houston Astros was postponed due to predicted inclement (cold and snowy) weather and rescheduled for April 7. The postponement marks the fourth postponed Home Opener in club history (since 1961), also April 13, 1962 (snow); April 22, 1972 (cold and wet grounds); and April 7, 2022 (cold and rain/snow in forecast).
2021 – J.A. Happ started for Minnesota making his Twins debut allowing one run on three hits in four innings pitched. The Twins trailed 3-1 after six but scored one in the seventh and then Byron Buxton’s solo home run, his third of the season in the eighth inning tied up the game at 3-3. The game went to extra-innings and Hansel Robles gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 10th on former Twins farmhand Akil Baddoo’s RBI single with two out and the Tigers walked-off the Twins 4-3. It was the second Twins extra-innings walk-off loss of the season. Robles (0-1) was the loser and Gregory Sota picked up the Tigers win. The Twins had nine hits, three from Nelson Cruz (3) who also homered. Jake Cave and Willians Astudillo also contributed two hits each. Box Score
In off the field news the Twins announced new Target Field fan amenities and polices for beginning of 2021 season.
Twins unveil new Target Field fan amenities and polices for beginning of 2021 season.pdf
2020 – The game between the Twins and Cleveland Indians at Target Field has been postponed due to COVID-19. That makes 11 games missed thus far.
2019 – After yesterday’s sloppy defeat opened this three-game set on a down-note, the Twins rallied today for a win to even the series. After a pair of quick innings, Byron Buxton used his legs to manufacture the team’s first run with a swipe of second, his 31st consecutive SB without a CS, before a wild pitch later allowed him to scamper home. Max Kepler and Willians “La Tortuga” Astudillo launched back-to-back home runs in the third to cap-off the three run inning, but it was Eddie Rosario’s pinch-hit, three-run, ninth-inning off the right field foul pole that iced the Twins’ 6-2 victory. Michael Pineda spun 5.0 two-run innings and four ‘pen arms combined to allow three hits and no runs in the win. The team is now 5-2 and in first place by a game. Box Score
Brian Blanco – Getty Images)
2018 – No Game Today, scheduled day off.
2015 – The Twins opened their 55th season of baseball on the road in Detroit and suffered their seventh consecutive Opening day loss. The 2014 season and the Ron Gardenhire era ended last September with a 3-0 loss to David Price in Detroit. The 2015 season and Paul Molitor era began with a 4-0 loss to David Price in Detroit. Price needed a little help to get the final out and that came from Jon Nathan as he nailed down his first save of the new season. Phil Hughes was on the hill for the Twins and took the loss going 6 innings (93 pitches) allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. Rule 5 pick-up J.R. Graham made his major league debut pitching the final two scoreless innings allowing two hits and one walk. The Twins managed just 5 singles and no player had more than one hit. There were 45,030 fans at Comerica Park on a 52 degree day. Box Score
2012 – The Twins opened the new season at Oriole Park in Camden Yards but it was not an overly pleasant experience as the Twins didn’t score until Josh Willingham hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning and by that time the Twins were down by four runs. With two out in the ninth the Twins had runners at the corners but Trevor Plouffe grounded out weekly and the Orioles topped the Twins 4-2 in front of 46,773 Oriole fans. Carl Pavano started for the Twins and Jake Arrieta. Both starters went 7 innings with Arrieta getting the win and Pavano the loss in a game in which each team had six hits. Denard Span was the only Twins with two hits. Willingham who hit the home run also threw out a runner at the plate in the sixth inning. Box Score
2011 – No game today, the Twins game at Yankee Stadium was rained out and rescheduled for September 19 which was supposed to be a day off.
2009 – The Metrodome is known for being a noisy place but it was far from that today as a sellout crowd of 48,514 Twins fans showed up as the Twins opened their 28th and final season at the Metrodome with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Mariners starter “King” Felix Hernandez holds the Twins to just five hits over eight innings to get the win and Francisco Liriano gets the big “L”. Each team had six hits but the Mariners made better use of theirs as they also hit two home runs. The Twins opponent in the first regular season game at the Metrodome on April 6, 1982 was also the Mariners and the Twins lost that game 11-7. Next season the Twins will play in their new outdoor ballpark Target Field. Box Score
2007 – No game today. The scheduled game in Chicago against the White Sox was postponed due to cold weather and will be played as part of a July 6 doubleheader.
2005 – The Twins are leading the Seattle Mariners 3-1 in the top of the 8th inning at Safeco Field when Ron Villone is brought in to face Twins first baseman Justin Morneau. Villone beans Morneau and in the process Morneau suffers a mild concussion. According to a Star Tribune article in 2005, “Contributing to the concern is Morneau’s history of concussions. This was his fifth, although the first involving baseball. He suffered others playing basketball and hockey and, in the worst one, running backward in 2000 during a workout. He fell and hit the back of his head on the ground.” Morneau saw the pitch coming toward his head – a frightening recollection. “A heat-seeking missile,” Morneau called it. After a 2 week stint on the DL, Morneau returned to the line-up on April 22.
2004 – Playing in just his second major league game, Twins star rookie catcher Joe Mauer hears something “pop” as he slides and tries to catch a foul pop-up in a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins actually ended up winning the game 7-6 in 15 innings when Twins DH Jose Offerman who entered the game earlier as a pinch-runner gets a walk-off single with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 15th inning off Indians reliever Jake Westbrook for the Twins win. Mauer goes on the DL, the first of ten times he will see his name on the DL during his 15 year big league career. A few days later, April 8th, Joe ends up having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. Mauer returns to the line-up on June 2 but continues to have trouble off and on with the knee swelling and he plays in his final 2004 game on July 15 and his first season as a Twin ends after just 35 games but in that short period he showed all of us what kind of bat he had as he hit .308 in 107 at bats. Box Score
1999 – In the Season Opener the Minnesota Twins opened at the Metrodome with 45,601 fans in the seats and four rookies in the starting line-up (Torii Hunter, Chad Allen, Doug Mientkiewicz and Cristian Guzman) and there are 10 rookies on the 25-man OD roster. Their opponents, the Toronto Blue Jays were sending Pat Hentgen who is 11-1 against the Twins to the mound and the Twins were going with Brad Radke. The game quickly turned into a pitching duel with the Jays ahead 1-0 after six innings thanks to a Carlos Delgado home run in the second inning. Hentgen tired in the seventh giving up a double and a single and was quickly pulled and replaced by Dan Plesac who lasted just four batters retiring one and he too hit the showers. When the Twins seventh was over the Twins had sent ten batters to the plate and had put a 6 spot on the board for a 6-1 lead that they would hold for their first win of the season. Radke left after that and got the win for seven inning of work (100 pitches) and 1 run on 8 hits. Six Twins had two or more hits with Matt Lawton getting three. Hentgen took the loss. Twins ownership had guaranteed each ticket-holder a free ticket to another Twins game if the Twins lost their opener. This might have been one of the most fun Twins home openers ever. Allen and Guzman both made their major league debuts in this game. Box Score
1998 – No game today, scheduled day off.
1997 – The Twins broke out a new home red Sunday jersey. The jersey was red with navy trim and the Twins logo, player’s name, and numbers were white with navy trim. The Twins end up losing the game 12-2 after taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The red jersey was used again the following Sunday, April 13, this time in Kauffman Stadium but this game also resulted in a Twins loss 6-1 and the red jersey was mothballed and not used in a game that counted again until August 1, 2014. Red jersey images.
1993 – The Opener at home was the first since 1989 for the Minnesota Twins and its 51,617 fans but was not a pleasant experience at the Metrodome. Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page threw out the first ball but after that it was all down hill. Twins starter Kevin Tapani is the first Twins pitcher to start four consecutive home openers. Tapani gave up a single, single, FC, and a George Bell double and the Chicago White Sox had a quick 3-0 lead before Tapani could retire a single batter. The Twins came back with two of their own in the bottom of the first on the first pitch that Kirby Puckett saw this season when he parked it in deep right Field off White Sox starter Jack McDowell. The Twins actually had a brief lead when they scored twice in the bottom of the third when Minnesota native Dave Winfield hit his first home run as a Minnesota Twin with a runner on base to put the Twins up 4-3. But the lead would be short-lived as Tapani stepped in some deep do-do in the fourth having given up five runs before manager Tom Kelly showed him some mercy and sent him to an early shower and brought in Mike Hartley. When the inning ended the White Sox had scored six times and were up 9-4 and would hold on for a 10-5 win. Tapani (0-1) took the loss having given up 9 runs, 8 earned in 3.1 innings (60 pitches) on 8 hits, one of which was a home run. McDowell (1-0) gave up 4 runs in 6 innings but got the win. Though Puckett and Winfield hit home runs, it was the number 7 and 8 place hitters in the Twins line-up Brian Harper and Mike Pagliarulo that had two hits each. The Twins have sold 1,265,934 tickets before opening day. Box Score
1992 – The defending World Champions Twins open the 1992 season on the road at County Stadium in Milwaukee and win their season opener for the first time in the last five years. 52,470 baseball fans were in the ballpark. Scott Erickson had the Twins Opening Day honors and left after six innings when the Brewers had runners on first and second after Erickson allowed a single, WP, and a walk without retiring a batter in the top of the seventh. Mark Guthrie relieved Erickson and promptly threw a WP moving both runners up. A run then scored on a bunt ground-out and it was 2-2 but the Twins got out of it without further damage. The Twins scored twice in the ninth and Rick Aguilera locked down his first save of the season. Carl Willis got the win. Ed Nunez took the loss for the Brew Crew. Chuck Knoblauch had a big day going 4 for 5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored and Kirby Puckett had a home run and a double in 5 AB’s. Box Score
1990 – No game today. Due to the lockout by MLB, today’s game at the Metrodome versus the Seattle Mariners has been rescheduled for October 1.
1982 – A huge crowd of 52,279 turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie third baseman Gary Gaetti goes 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs, but Seattle wins 11-7. Floyd Bannister gives up sever earned runs in 7.2 innings but still gets the Mariners win and Pete Redfern suffers the Twins loss. By the way, the temperature outside at game time was 28 degrees. Box Score The game itself can be seen here but the lighting was so bad it is hard to see some of the action. The video is about 2 hours and 42 minutes long.
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1979 – The Twins played the 1979 season opener in Oakland under some unusual circumstances. The Oakland scoreboard didn’t work due to a faulty computer disk. No one threw out the ceremonial first ball because Oakland management didn’t arrange for anyone to do it. Minor league and semipro umpires officiated while NL umpire Ed Montague picketed outside the stadium. Dave Goltz started for Minnesota and Rick Langford did the honors for Oakland. Oakland scored first with one in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Twins scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh and held on for a 5-3 win. Goltz (1-0) pitched 8.1 innings allowing three runs on 8 hits while striking out 3 and picked up his first April career win. Mike Marshall finished up for his first save of the season. There were no home runs in the game and each team ended up with 8 hits. Ron Jackson was the only Twin with two hits. Box Score
1978 – In only the second game of the season while playing in the Kingdome, Twins second baseman Rob Wilfong is hit by a pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Shane Rawley in the sixth inning and suffers a broken bone in his hand which sidelines him for a month. The Twins hold on to win 5-4 for their first win of the season. Box Score
1974 – After winning their season opener yesterday in Kansas City at Royals Stadium in extra-innings the Twins sent Bill Hands to the bump to take on starter Steve Busby for the Royals. It did not go well as Busby pitched a scoreless first and Hands faced ten Kansas City batters allowing seven runs on seven hits, a hit batter and a stolen base before manager Frank Quilici finally went to the mound and told Hands that he was done for the day. The Twins used six pitchers and none escaped without allowing at least two runs. The Royals were an amazing 13 for 24 with RISP. Bobby Darwin and Steve Braun each had two hits for Minnesota including aa home run. Hands (0-1) took his first loss of the season. Box Score
Royals crush Twins, 23-6 by Ralph Caola
1973 – A new era in MLB in the American League begins when the age of the designated hitter (DH) dawns. A rule that will be hated by some and loved by others and discussed by fans and sportswriters alike for the next half century. Tony Oliva hits the first home run ever by a designated hitter in AL history when he cranks one out on Opening Day against “Catfish” Hunter in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the Twins 8-3 victory as 38,207 fans looked on. Jim Holt and Larry Hisle also hit home runs to support Bert Blyleven’s complete game win. It wasn’t easy for Bert as he gave up 10 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) while striking out 7 but he toughed it out for the win. Hisle, playing in his first game in a Twins uniform after being acquired from the Cardinals this past off-season along with pitcher John Cumberland in a deal for Wayne Granger played center field. Hisle, hitting lead-off had a huge day, in addition to his home run, he had a double, a stolen base, going 4 for 5, scoring 3 times with 1 RBI. Box Score
1972 – ON STRIKE – For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The Twins were scheduled to open their season against the California Angels at Met Stadium today but that obviously that did not happen. Game 1 missed due to the strike.
1971 – The Minnesota Twins open the 1971 at home at Metropolitan Stadium against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. Jim Perry gets Opening Day honors for the Twins but lasts just 4.2 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs before departing. The Twins are down 5 to nothing before they finally score their first run of the season in the sixth and they add another in the eighth but by that time they are down 7-2 and that is what the final score will read. The Twins are out hit 12 to 9 and commit the games only error. Infielder Steve Braun and RHP Ray Corbin make their major league debuts in this game and neither was anything to call home about. Tomorrow is another day. Box Score
1966 – The Twins swing a deal with the Red Sox and acquire catcher Russ Nixon and second baseman Chuck Schilling and give up pitcher Dick Stigman and first baseman Jose Calero. Shilling decided to retire at the age of 27 rather than to play in Minnesota while Jose Calero never made it to the bigs.
1951 – Twins pitching great and MLB Hall of Famer Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven was born on this day in Zeist, Netherlands. Blyleven, now a Twins TV color commentator makes a big deal about his birthday and seems to mention his birthday on every Twins telecast and can tell you on any day of the year how many days it is until his next birthday. Bert is famous for using his “telestrator” for circling Twins fans in the crowd who have brought their “Circle me Bert” signs to the ball game.
