Manager Derek Shelton didn’t hide his frustration after the Twins blew a five-run lead in their loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, conducting a short postgame news conference.
When Shelton walked through the clubhouse, where players were sitting at their lockers, he thought it was as quiet as he heard it after a game all year.
One of the defining traits about the Twins this year is their ability to rebound after tough stretches. Monday’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves was no exception.
The Twins scored four runs before they recorded their first out against lefty Martín Pérez and they rode that early offense to a 4-2 victory at Target Field, snapping an 11-game losing streak to Atlanta that dated to 2019.
“I was asked [Sunday], at the end, how big today’s game was, and I think my response was ‘extremely,’” Shelton said. “So, yeah, it was a good win.”
Bailey Ober gave up two runs in 4⅓ innings, and the bullpen covered the final 14 outs in a game delayed 51 minutes at the start because of the threat of rain.
Jeff Hoffman stranded two runners in the eighth inning, aided by a diving stop from second baseman Kody Clemens on a ground ball that left Michael Harris II’s bat at 108 mph.
After the Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning and didn’t score, Yoendrys Gómez pitched around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn his 18th save.
“When I come into games here, since I’ve been here, it seems like the ball finds Kody,” Hoffman said. “I couldn’t be happier that it found a guy like that.”
Box score: Twins 4, Braves 2
American League wild card standings
The Twins sit a half-game out of a playoff spot in an uninspired American League wild-card race.
As many times as the Twins looked like they hit a low point — they were eight games below .500 on June 13, dealt with a four-game losing streak almost immediately coming out of the All-Star break and they’ve played poorly in August — they have found ways to stabilize themselves.
Luke Keaschall, who recovered from his own bad start, hit leadoff for the first time this year in front of an announced crowd of 19,990. He started the offense with leadoff double.
“It’s fun to set the tone,” said Keaschall, who noted he often batted leadoff in college and minor leagues. “I like trying to get on base and let the next guy do their job. I pride my game a lot on trying to get on base as much as possible.”
Keaschall was in a 0-2 count against Pérez when he lined a changeup below the strike zone to left field, then sprinted ahead of a throw to second as his helmet fell off.
Pérez walked the next two batters before Josh Bell blooped a ground-rule double down the right-field line. Royce Lewis and Clemens both followed with RBI singles.
“I know we got swept last series but everyone was in good spirits, happy to be around each other,” Keaschall said. “It makes it easier to ride the highs and lows together that way.”
It’s been a slow, yet steady ascent for the 24-year-old Keaschall, who had a .245 on-base percentage and four extra-base hits in his first 106 plate appearances.
Shelton attributed the slow start to Keaschall making his first Opening Day roster, a different type of internal pressure than starting the season in the minors.
Since May 1, Keaschall ranks fourth in the majors with a .400 on-base percentage. In his last 15 games, he’s totaled three homers and five doubles.
“I don’t think anybody wants it more than he does,” Bell said. “Countless times earlier in the year, he was hitting after games trying to figure it out. He’s been lights out for us.”
Keaschall is expected to continue hitting leadoff after outfielder Austin Martin went on the 10-day injured list Monday with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. The Twins brought back Alex Jackson, who was designated for assignment and cleared waivers.
“This whole season has been a slight incline,” Keaschall said. “It was pretty rough to start the year if we’re being honest. I wasn’t very happy with how I did. Now I’m happy with how I’ve bounced back.”
Ober labored through a 27-pitch first inning, stranding two runners, and his pitch count remained inflated because there were a lot of foul balls.
Pitching with his pants up, Ober exited in the fifth inning after giving up a two-run single to Ronald Acuña Jr.
“I used to do it in my rookie year, I wore my pants up a lot of the time,” Ober said. “I went back to that to maybe get some good vibes going and change things around.”
Atlanta didn’t have another baserunner until Matt Olson hit a double off Hoffman in the eighth. Travis Adams pitched two clean innings with three strikeouts.
“We feel like we have just about anybody to pitch in any situation,” Hoffman said. “When you have a group like that together, we like to think that it makes pushing the buttons as a manager a lot easier.”