Twins win streak hits 13 with third straight shutout in 18-hit effort: ‘Winning is fun'

New York Times

18-05-2025

MILWAUKEE — About the only losses the Twins take these days are key players to injury. Even those can't seem to slow them down.
On a day the club placed top offensive performer Byron Buxton on the seven-day concussion list, the offense pelted the Milwaukee Brewers for a season-high 18 hits, and a red-hot pitching staff delivered a third straight shutout as the Twins extended their winning streak to 13 games with a 7-0 victory.
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Pablo Lopez and three relievers added to the team's Minnesota-record 33-inning scoreless streak, and Ryan Jeffers (four hits) and Kody Clemens (three hits) homered in the Twins' biggest rout of their hot stretch in front of 40,267 at American Family Field.
As if the streak weren't enough, the team also pleased its fan base by announcing it would promote the people's prospect, outfielder Carson McCusker, from Triple-A St. Paul to replace Buxton.
'Our offense has been doing an exceptional job of being ready,' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. '(Saturday) was a great example of having a real relentless approach at the plate. … There were no easy innings (for Milwaukee).'
Facing second-year pitcher Tobias Myers, Jeffers put the Brewers in an uncomfortable spot only three pitches in, belting a 420-foot home run to left-center field.
The @Twins are off to a hot start again! Ryan Jeffers with a solo shot in the first!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/ooTBHVDhAq
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 17, 2025
An inning later, the Twins extended the lead to two runs on Christian Vázquez's two-out RBI single, which drove in Royce Lewis, who finished with two hits and a walk. The contribution was the latest of a torrid stretch for Vázquez, who is batting .306/.390/.472 with a homer and five RBIs in 41 plate appearances dating back to April 24.
Ty France singled in a run in the third, Brooks Lee added an RBI single in the fourth and Clemens homered in the fifth to make it 5-0. The Twins scored a lone run in a sixth straight inning on Lee's sac fly, which scored Trevor Larnach, who tripled to open the sixth inning.
'It's like a punch in the mouth,' Jeffers said. 'As soon as we score early with how well we're pitching, it definitely puts them in a hole and gives us the utmost confidence to continue swinging.'
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With the way events are transpiring on the injury front, the Twins nearly felt as if they immediately received another gut punch in the bottom of the first when López was greeted with a line drive off his derriere. Brice Turang's liner hit López on the behind and bounced back toward the visiting dugout, where the Twins were crossing their fingers their frontline starter would avoid a rash of injuries currently plaguing the club.
Fortunately for them, the ball hit López in the safest area possible.
'Pablo's got a big, strong behind,' Baldelli said. 'I think he can handle taking a line drive off of that thing.'
López proved capable of not only bouncing back but continuing a Twins record roll. Though he retired the next two batters in the first, López issued a walk to William Contreras, laboring some in a 23-pitch first inning that ended with a Sal Frelick groundout.
But that was as much difficulty as he'd experience all evening. The velocity on all five pitches used by López was up, and he rode a lively four-seam fastball to six scoreless innings.
López responded to the long first with a seven-pitch second inning and later needed only 11 pitches to strikeout the side in the fifth, one of three 1-2-3 frames. While he couldn't solve Turang, who reached base three times, the rest of Milwaukee's struggling lineup went 0-for-18 with a walk against López, who generated 14 swings-and-misses in a 95-pitch effort.
Justin Topa, Jorge Alcala and Kody Funderburk followed López with scoreless innings as the Twins completed a third straight shutout for only the second time in Minnesota history. The team is poised to surpass the franchise record of 39 scoreless innings set by the 1913 Washington Senators.
'You want to be the guy that keeps that momentum going,' López said. 'Joe (Ryan) did it after (Chris) Paddack. I wanted to do it after Joe. I woke up feeling so motivated, and feeling like, 'Hey, I want to continue that. I want to be on the mound and just feel those energies take over.' We have such a good thing going, from the pitching, from the hitting. I just let that take over me.'
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Earlier in the season, the energy surrounding the Twins felt like a black cloud following everywhere they went. Now, even the difficult days are brushed away with ease.
Following two days of observation after his collision with shortstop Carlos Correa, the Twins placed Buxton on the seven-day concussion list an hour before Saturday's game. Buxton and Correa, who went on the seven-day concussion list on Friday, were in the Twins clubhouse before the game, chatting with teammates and making the rounds.
The Twins were also without Willi Castro, who sat with a right knee contusion. Though he wore a bandage, Castro felt better than expected when he woke up Saturday morning after struggling to put weight on his knee the night before.
Castro suffered the injury during his only at-bat Friday when he fouled a pitch off his knee. He started to experience swelling in the knee after returning to the field and underwent an X-ray, though the results showed no break. While Baldelli said Castro would have been available in an emergency, the manager hoped to stay away from the utility man if he could, a possibility which likely extends to Sunday, too.
The trio of player absences led to the promotion of McCusker, a 27-year-old slugger who's become somewhat of a cult hero among a fan base hoping he turns into an Aaron Judge variant. Undrafted out of Oklahoma State and signed out of Independent ball in 2023 by former Twins scout Billy Milos, the 6-foot-8, 250-pounder is unsurprisingly known for his massive power.
When McCusker connects, the ball goes far. He's homered 43 times in 207 minor-league games and is having a career year, batting .350/.412/.650 with 10 homers at Triple-A St. Paul.
The question is whether he'll connect enough in the majors. McCusker has struck out 266 times in 772 minor-league at-bats, which equates to 34.5 percent.
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What's certain is that McCusker is joining a clubhouse that's feeling the good vibes of a winning streak now two weeks old. During a stretch in which the Twins are outscoring opponents 68-29, the team is receiving contributions from just about everyone on the roster while concurrently overcoming the mounting injuries.
'When a team is playing good, the clubhouse, they don't care about anything,' Baldelli said. 'There is not a thought about injuries. Yeah, you acknowledge it, and you know it's going on around you, but there is no dwelling. It's only getting ready to do whatever we have to do to score runs, defend and pitch.'
Kody Kan't stop pic.twitter.com/pULSZhnlkO
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 18, 2025
The play of Clemens embodies how the Twins are managing to roll with every punch thrown their way of late. Acquired in an April 26 trade for cash after the Philadelphia Phillies designated him for assignment, Clemens is thriving with newfound opportunity.
The Twins are impressed with Clemens' hustle, defense, especially at second base, and the way he comports himself with a bit of swagger. They knew he occasionally could barrel up pitches, too.
But they're ecstatic with the recent play of Clemens, who jump-started the winning streak with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the May 3 win at Boston. Clemens, who also delivered a go-ahead, three-run home run at Baltimore on Wednesday, is hitting .360/.467/.760 in 30 plate appearances during the streak. He's one of eight hitters with at least a .700 OPS over the 13 games — a number the majority of the team's hitters could only dream about as recently as a month ago.
'(Consistent at-bats) plays a huge part of it,' Clemens said. 'My whole big league career to this point has been pinch hitting; sporadic starts after sitting for a while. I've never really gotten the opportunity to play every day or at least multiple times during the week. It's been nice to nice to try to get in a rhythm and see a lot of pitches and get a lot of consistent at-bats. … Winning is fun. That's all I keep saying. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. It's been a blast to be a part of.'
The @Twins shutout the Brewers to earn their 13th straight win! pic.twitter.com/JiQy7kh5cz
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 18, 2025
Zebby Matthews joined the Twins early Saturday and is scheduled to start in Sunday's series finale, his first in the big leagues this season. More experienced than he was debuting last August during a whirlwind rookie campaign, Matthews feels comfortable returning to the majors.
Matthews posted a 1.93 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings at St. Paul.
'You don't want to be the guy to end the streak,' Matthews said. 'Everyone in Triple A is excited. Every time we come in the locker room, we're like, 'Holy crap, they won again?' This is nuts.'
(Photo of Kody Clemens reacting after his fifth-inning homer: Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)