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2021 – Yes, the Twins beat Boston 7-6 in seven innings in the Twins first exhibition game of 2021, used seven pitchers, gave up three home runs, and rallied with two runs in the sixth to begin Grapefruit League play with a victory. The most important number in the box score, though, was this: 2,154. That was the announced attendance, the first time since March 11 that the Twins had played in front of paying customers, albeit socially distanced, mostly masked ones. “It was a really great day for all of us to be out there again and play in front of our fans,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The feel of the game is so much different than anything that we were playing in front of last year. Just a completely different environment.”
Maybe not everyone enjoyed it, Boston rookie Caleb Simpson, who faced five batters in mid-inning relief of starter Nathan Eovaldi, retired none them, and finally caused the Red Sox to invoke one of this spring’s new rules intended to protect pitchers’ arms — a team can terminate an inning if its pitcher has thrown more than 20 pitches. With five runs in after Sano’s double and Simpson having thrown only five strikes among 21 pitches, the Red Sox did so, stranding two Twins in scoring position with only one out. Is that crazy or what?