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2022 – The Twins lost to the Tigers by a score of 5-2. Simeon Woods Richardson (0-1) made his major league debut as the club’s starter, allowing three runs (2 earned) on three hits in 5 innings pitched, with two walks and three strikeouts. SWR became the 13th Twin to debut this season, second-most in club history (14 in 2017). The offense recorded just three hits, including two from Carlos Correa, who also drove in one of the Twins’ two runs. The loss assured the Twins of a sub .500 season, their eighth in their 13 years calling Target Field their home. The Twins finished their season against the Tigers with a record of 11-8 and now move on to Chicago to play the White Sox. Box Score
2021 – The Twins shutout the Kansas City Royals 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium. Rookie Griffin Jax (4-5) started and was the winner in his fourteenth and final game of 2021 and it was arguably the best game he has pitched in the big leagues. Jax went five shutout innings allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 3 on 74 pitches. Caleb Thielbar, Tyler Duffey and Alex Colome completed the white-washing. Donaldson’s 26th homerun of the year was the only long ball the Twins hit today. Luis Arraez and Jake Cave each contributed two hits today. The game was over in a quick 2 hours and 52 minutes. Box Score
2018 – The Minnesota Twins announced that Paul Molitor has been relieved of his manager duties and will be offered another position in the organization. Molitor has managed the Twins for four seasons (2015-2018) to a 305-343 record. Paul Molitor was the 2017 AL Manager of the Year and signed a new 3 year deal after the 2017 season ended.
2016 – The Twins 2016 season finally comes to an end in U.S. Cellular Field with a win that means little since they set a team record for losses at 103 just two days earlier. It was an exciting start to the season finale with Chris Sale making his final start in a White Sox uniform and Twins lead-off hitter Byron Buxton (10) hitting Sale’s first pitch to deep center field for an inside the park home run and a quick 1-0 Twins lead. Miguel Sano’s (25) home run in the sixth inning turned out to be the Twins final long ball in 2016. Max Kepler also chipped in two hits one of which was a double. Jose Berrios (3-7) who started for the Twins was the winner and Sale (17-10) took the loss. The Twins finished the season with a 59-103 record, the worst in baseball by nine games over three 94 loss teams. Box Score
2009 – A strange game as the Twins score 10 runs in the first four innings and the Royals score the next seven runs in the next four innings. Delmon Young hits his first career grand slam to lead the Twins to a 10 – 7 win over Kansas City at the Metrodome. Jason Kubel also hits a home run and Orlando Cabrera gets 3 hits. Minnesota starter Jeff Manship earns his first major league win. Joe Nathan recorded his 46th save of the season and in the process broke the club single season save record held by Eddie Guardado who had 45 saves in 2002. Joe finished the 2009 regular season with 47 saves. Box Score
2008 – No Game Today
2005 – The Twins play their final game of the disappointing season that saw then unable to win their fourth straight division title and beat the Detroit Tigers 6-4 at the Metrodome sweeping the three-game series and finishing the season with a 83-79 record, good for third place 16 games behind the division winning Whitey’s from Chicago. Johan Santana (16-7) started and got the win with seven innings of work (106 pitches) allowing one run on 3 hits while striking out 9. Third baseman Luis Rodriguez led the Twins attack with three hits and RBI, Matt LeCroy hit his 17th home run of the season which tied a career high and Jason Tyner, Luis Rivas, and Lew Ford each chipped in two hits. Nate Robertson (7-16) took the loss for Detroit. 20,160 Twins fans showed up for the season finale. Box Score
2004 – The game against the Indians at the Metrodome was suspended after 11 innings with the game tied at 5 because the playing surface had to be prepared for a Minnesota Gophers football game. I was there and walked away feeling like I got cheated, baseball games are not supposed to end in a tie. Lead-off hitter and left fielder Lew Ford was 4 for 6 and scored three times. The Twins won the game 6-5 in the 12th inning the next day on a walk-off double by Michael Cuddyer that scored Jason Bartlett who had walked earlier in the inning. Kyle Lohse who pitched the 12th inning was the winning pitcher and he went on to start the regularly scheduled game for that day. Box Score
2002 – The Twins lose game 2 of the 2002 ALDS in Oakland to the A’s by a score of 9-1. Joe Mays lasted just 3.2 innings allowing six runs and was the losing pitcher and the Twins scored their only run on a Cristian Guzman home run. DH Matt LeCroy had 2 hits in the game. Box Score
1992 – Chili Davis goes 3 for 4 and hits home runs from each side of the plate against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in a 5-1 Twins victory and becomes only the second Twins batter to accomplish this feat. Roy Smalley was the first to accomplish this feat on May 30, 1986. Even more impressive was starting pitcher John Smiley who pitched a complete game using just 80 pitches (59 strikes) and allowing just four hits and one run in a snappy 2 hour 8 minute ballgame. Box Score
1991 – No game today. The game against the White Sox was rained out in Chicago and will be played as part of a double-header tomorrow.
1988 – Greg Gagne hits a two-run home run in the second inning putting the Twins up 3-0 and the Twins hold on for a 3-2 win over the California Angels at the Metrodome in the final game of the season. Starter Roy Smith allows two runs on five hits in his 6 inning stint on the mound and ups his record to 3-0. The Twins draw 35,952 fans in their season finale to become the first American League team to pass 3 million in attendance in a single season. They finish the season with a total attendance of 3,030,672. The Twins finish the 1988 season with a 91-71 record but find themselves 13 games behind the AL West champion Oakland A’s. Box Score
1983 – The Twins bid farewell to the 1983 season by pounding 13 hits, seven for extra bases at Exhibition Stadium and beating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-3 behind a complete game by Twins starter Al Williams who allowed 12 hits and just 2 earned runs in a spiffy 2 hour and 7 minute game in front of a crowd of 40,692. Kent Hrbek was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI with a home run (16) and a double and Randy Bush also chipped in a home run (11) and a double with 2 RBI. The Twins finished play in 1983 with a 70-92 record, tied with the Angels for fifth place in the AL West. Box Score
1981 – The HHH Metrodome is inflated for the first time. It took two hours to inflate over 310 tons of fabric, covering the world’s largest air-supported multi-use stadium.
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1977 – The Twins finished the 1977 season with a 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in front of a sparse crowd of 4,394 at County Stadium. Dave Goltz started for Minnesota and Billy Travers went for the Brewers. It was a close game for seven inning but the Twins broke it open with three runs in the eighth when Sam Perlozzo led off with a triple and scored on a Rod Carew single, Danny Ford plated Carew with his triple and Larry Hisle singled him home and sent Travers to the showers. Goltz pitched a complete game, his 19th of the season as he won his 20th game for the first time. Hisle won his first RBI title with 119 and Carew had three hits and wrapped up his sixth batting championship with a .388 average after his average peaked at .411 on June 29 and July 1. The team however; finished fourth in the AL West with a 84-77 record and 17.5 games behind the KC Royals. The Twins spent 66 days in first place but as the season wound down the Twins withered and finished September with a 7-18 record. Box Score
1974 – Rookie Jim Hughes pitches a complete game at Met Stadium in his second big league game allowing only three hits but he and the Twins come up on the short-end of a 2-1 game to the Billy Martin managed Texas Rangers. The Twins only had five hits and one of those was an Eric Soderholm home run off Fergie Jenkins who pitched seven innings and won his 25th game of the season. Harmon Killebrew wears the Twins colors for the last time as a Twins player and appears as a pinch-hitter for Larry Hisle with two out in the bottom of the ninth but takes a called third strike from Steve Foucault for the final out of the game and the 1974 season. Only 2,570 fans were on-hand to see Harmon play his last game as a Minnesota Twin. Texas Rangers manager Billy Martin elects not use a designated hitter, and allows starting pitcher Ferguson Jenkins to bat for himself. Although Fergie gets a hit in the Texas 2-1 victory over the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, the Rangers manager refusal to use a DH prevents the position from being employed for the entire game according to the rules. Box Score
Fergie Jenkins foils Hughes’s no-hit bid as Rangers take season finale from Twins by Frederick C. Bush
