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2023 – No Twins game today, scheduled day off.
2022 – The Twins started out trailing from the beginning and lost to the Royals again at Kauffman Stadium by a score of 5-2, dropping the series, making them 20-21-6 in series play this season. Bailey Ober (1-3) was the starter and loser, allowing three runs on seven hits in 5 innings pitched, with one walk and three strikeouts. The offense recorded seven hits, highlighted by Matt Wallner, who went 3-for-4 with a double (2) and two RBI (4). Box Score
2021 – The Twins beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field by a score of 9-5, scoring multiple runs in four different innings. Griffin Jax was the Twins starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing three runs on four hits in a 3 inning outing. Kyle Barraclough (2-0) earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief as the Twins used seven pitchers on the night, combining to record 14 strikeouts. The offense was on its game recording 16 hits. Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler, Nick Gordon and Mitch Garver each had three hits, it marked the first time the club had four different players with at least three hits in the same game since August 17, 2019 at Texas. Box Score
2020 – No game today, a scheduled day off.
2019 – Target Field is packed with 37,750 (12th sellout of the season) loyal Twins fans but the home team takes it on the chin as the Royals beat the playoff bound Twins 12-5. The game was tied 5-5 going into the ninth inning but the Royals jumped on Taylor Rogers for three runs and Trevor Hildenberger for four more before Jorge Alcala made his major league debut and was able to get the final two outs. José Berríos was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing five runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings pitched. The hitting attack was led by outfielder Lamonte Wade who had a home run (2) and a triple. Box Score
2018 – The Twins take on the Oakland A’s at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and score six in the sixth but the game is tied at six after nine innings. Matt Magill stays on the mound for Minnesota in the tenth inning but on his third pitch with none out he throws a gopher ball to Kris Davis and the Twins get walked off 7-6. Jose Berrios had another rough outing going 5.2 innings and allowing five runs but ended up with a ND. Robbie Grossman hit a home run, Ehire Adrianza had two doubles, and Jake Cave had two hits including a double. Box Score
2016 – No game today. The Twins and Tigers game at Target Field was rained out and rescheduled for tomorrow as part of a DH.
2015 – No game today, scheduled day off.
2012 – No game today, the game against the Tigers in Detroit was rained out and will be made up as part of a double header on September 23.
2010 – A great day to be a Twins fan. The Twins come from behind with four runs in the 8th inning to beat the Cleveland Indians at Target Field 6-4 and in the process clinch at least a tie for the Central division title. Just an hour or so later the second place Chicago White Sox get beat by the Oakland A’s and the Twins become the 2010 AL Central Division champions. The Twins become the first team in MLB to clinch a 2010 playoff spot. With the Twins victory, manager Ron Gardenhire wins his 800th game as a Twins manager. Before the game started, the 3 millionth fan walked through the Twins turnstiles at Target Field. Jim Thome was 2 for 3 and hit the Twins only home run of the game. Scott Baker started but did not figure in the decision as Glen Perkins got the win. Matt Capps pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to wrap up the Twins’ win over Indians and earn his 15th save since he was acquired from Washington on July 29. Capps, who had 26 saves for the Nationals this year, is only the 3rd pitcher to record 15 or more saves for 2 different teams in 1 season. The other pitchers to do that were Jeff Shaw in 1998 (Reds and Dodgers) and Bob Wickman in 2006 (Indians and Braves). Twins record is now 91-60. Box Score
2002 – The White Sox jump on Twins starter Brad Radke for 6 runs in three innings at Comiskey Park II and keep the pedal to the metal and beat the Twins into submission with a 14-4 beating in spite of allowing four home runs. Corey Koskie hit two home runs while pinch-hitter Michael Restovich homers for his first major league hit. David Ortiz also hit a home run. Box Score
1997 – The Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 in 10 innings at the Metrodome and Brad Radke pitches the entire 10 innings to get his 20th and final win of the season. Radke gives up a home run to Jeff Cirillo in the top of the first and shuts down the Brew crew the rest of the way. In the process Brad strikes out nine Brewers, walks none and gives up 6 hits and throws 128 pitches. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, first baseman Brent Brede singles and Paul Molitor follows with a game winning walk-off triple, his third hit of the game and the Twins send their fans home happy. The Twins will only win 68 games that season and Radke wins 20 of them. Box Score
1972 – No game today, scheduled day off.
1970 – The Oakland A’s rookie Vida Blue no-hits the Twins 6-0, becoming the youngest pitcher to perform the feat since Paul Dean, 36 years ago to the day. The only base runner against Blue is Harmon Killebrew, who walks in the 4th inning. A Oakland crowd of only 4,284 is on hand as history is being made. Jim Perry pitches a complete game for the Twins loss and his record drops to 23-12. Box Score
September 21, 1970: A’s rookie Vida Blue no-hits Twins, drinks their champagne
1969 – The champagne was on ice while 15,443 Twins fans waited to erupt after their Minnesota Twins defeated a Seattle Pilots team they had already beaten 11 times in 14 games, including eight of eight at Metropolitan Stadium. At 91-60 with an 11-game lead over the second-place Oakland A’s, the Twins saw that the clinching of the first-ever American League West Division title was merely a formality. The Twins started Dean Chance and the expansion Pilots went with Bob Myer. The score was tied at 3-3 after six innings and both starters were done for the day. The Twins brought in starter Jim Kaat in relief for the seventh time this season to start the seventh and he kept Seattle off the board for two innings and then retired the first two batters in the ninth before utility man John Kennedy playing shortstop and hitting eighth in the Pilots line-up hit his fourth home run over the left field wall giving them a 4-3 lead. John O’Donoghue retired the Twins 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Pilots were 4-3 winners and the Twins playoff clinch would have to wait for another day. Kaat (13-12) took the loss and O’Donoghue (2-2) took the win. Killebrew (46) had the big stick going 3-3 with two home runs, two runs, two RBI and an IW. George Mitterwald also had three hits and between him and Harmon they had 6 of the 8 Twins hits. Box Score
Killebrew’s perfect day not enough for Twins to beat Pilots, clinch division by Mike Lynch
1967 – It is Jim Merritt’s turn to beat the Kansas City A’s and he shuts them out 4-0 on just 2 hits in the fourth complete game in a row for Twins starters. Merritt goes down in Twins history as the last Twins pitcher to beat the Kansas City A’s who move on to Oakland. Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva hit home runs to support the cause. Box Score
1964 – No Game Today
1963 – Harmon Killebrew goes on a home run tear and smacks three home runs against the Red Sox at Fenway Park in game one of a double-header becoming the second Twins to hit three home runs in a single game. George Banks and Don Mincher also chip in a home run each. Lee Stange gets the win and reliever Bill Dailey goes the last 3.1 scoreless innings allowing just one hit and earns his 20th save. The Twins pin the 10th loss of the season on 20 game winner Bill Monbouquette. It is a shame that only 6,469 baseball fans were in the park to see it. Box Score
The Twins must have thought it would be an easy day but in game two of the double-header the Red Sox came back with a vengeance and beat the lads from Minnesota 11 to 2 while booting the ball around with four errors. Gene Conley was the winner and Dwight Siebler took his first career loss as a big leaguer against two wins. Killebrew hit another home run, number 44 and Jimmie Hall and Zoilo Versalles contributed two hits each. Box Score
1961 – The Minnesota Twins and Washington Senators squared off at Griffith Stadium on a Thursday afternoon to play the final game to ever be played at the old ballpark with Jack Kralick throwing for Minnesota and Bennie Daniels going for the expansion Washington Senators. There were no ceremonies to commemorate the event because then Senators President Elwood “Pete” Quesada would not concede that this was the ballparks final game although everyone knew it was. The Senators got on the board first when Gene Green scored from third base when Zoilo Versalles dropped a throw on an attempted steal of second base by Chuck Hinton that should have been the third out of the second inning. The Twins came back by scoring 3 in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh and the final score of the game was Twins 6 and Senators 3. Kralick (13-10), who went 5.1 innings allowing two runs, one earned on seven hits got the win. Don Lee pitched the final 3.1 innings allowing one run and garnering his third save. Harmon Killebrew and Versalles each had two RBI in the game. Bennie Daniels took the loss dropping his record to 10-11. It was Daniels that also took the loss when he pitched for Pittsburgh in the final game played at Ebbets Field back in 1957. With the final road game of the season behind them the 68-83 Twins return home to close out the season against the Senators, Indians and Tigers. The Twins road record for the season was 34-46. Box Score
Here is what the book called Closing ‘Em Down: Final Games at Thirteen Classic Ballparks had to say about the final game.
“The final game at Griffith Stadium took place on the afternoon of September 21, 1961, between the expansion Senators and, ironically, the Minnesota Twins, one year gone from the old park themselves. Neither team was going anywhere, and the worst crowd of the season, only 1,498 fans, “faithful to the end,” as the Post put it, showed up for the finale. “The tug of nostalgia had been overrated,” declared veteran columnist Shirley Povich. 85-year-old Nick Altrock was there, but few others. Altrock had seen the first game ever played in the park, and now he saw the last.”