After rain delay, Twins show their ready

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Woods Richardson provides a strong start, and bats wake up in middle innings

Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson pitches against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning of Thursday’s game at Target Field in Minneapolis. PHOTOS BY STEPHEN MATUREN — GETTY IMAGES

Twins designated hitter Trevor Larnach (9) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a two-run homer against the Seattle Mariners in the fifth inning of Thursday’s game at Target Field in Minneapolis.

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By Dane Mizutani

dmizutani@pioneerpress.com

Less than 24 hours after Joe Ryan put together a pitching gem to help the Twins snap their losing streak, Simeon Woods Richardson followed suit on Thursday afternoon at Target Field.

It was an extremely effective outing for Woods Richardson as he tossed five scoreless innings and struck out six batters, buoying the Twins until the bats eventually exploded in a 10-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

As impressive as the game was for the Twins as a whole, manager Rocco Baldelli went out of his way after the game to heap praise on Woods Richardson.

“In a lot of ways, Sim made that game for us, because he kept them at zero,” Baldelli said. “When your starting pitcher holds the other team down, it just gives you every opportunity to win the game.”

A lengthy rain delay before the game — which lasted 4 hours, 22 minutes — proved to be the only thing capable of slowing down Woods Richardson and his teammates.

“Our guys have the mentality that we’re playing and we’re always ready to go,” Baldelli said. “The way that Sim, more than anyone, was able to stay ready and then come out and pitch so well was probably the most impressive part of all of that.”

As impressive as Woods Richardson was with his arm, however, his most impressive play of game came via his glove.

After a line drive left the bat of Julio Rodriguez with an exit velocity of 106.2 mph, Woods Richardson instinctively stuck out his glove and somehow snared the ball out of midair. As soon as he realized he actually caught it, Woods Richardson showed proof to Rodriguez, then flashed a smile as he walked back to the mound.

“I don’t know how I caught it,” Woods Richardson said, while noting that he’s had some fun battles with Rodriguez in the minors. “I’m just happy I didn’t land on my face. I got the out and it was fun smiles after. That’s all we both could do.”

The run support for Woods Richardson started in the bottom of the fifth inning when Trevor Larnach locked in on a changeup over the plate and launched it for a two-run home run that made it 2-0.

The floodgates opened in the bottom of the sixth inning as Brooks Lee belted a solo home run, Byron Buxton doubled in a run, and Kody Clemens scored on an error to make it 5-0. It got out of hand from there as Willi Castro drove in Buxton with a double, Carlos Correa had a two-run single, and Matt Wallner crushed a two-run homer to provide an exclamation point as the lead quickly ballooned to 10-0.

“We batted around,” Baldelli said. “We had a lot of good at-bats in that inning. We had some walks that kept the inning going. We had some really well-struck balls in that inning, too, so everyone really did something today to make it happen.”

The win helped the Twins (39-42) split the series with the Mariners. Now, they have to continue to work to get themselves back to .500.

“I think we really believe in who we got in this locker room and who we are as a team,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “There is still a lot of baseball to be played for us to figure it out. Have we dug ourselves a hole? Sure. That doesn’t mean we can’t play our way out of it and be better.”