Minnesota Twins Rally in Cleveland After a Four-Game Skid and a Six-Homer Nightmare

If you want the Minnesota Twins' season distilled into seven days, this past week will do the job. The latest Minnesota Twins news reads like a mood ring: a tidy win at Wrigley Field to open the weekend, a four-game faceplant that included the ugliest home run barrage a Twins pitcher has ever absorbed, and then two gutsy wins in Cleveland — one of them a 12-inning staring contest — to salvage a series split and a little dignity. Minnesota comes home at 51-53, still third in an AL Central that refuses to run away from anybody, with the trade deadline roughly a week out and a front office that can't quite decide whether it's buying, selling, or doing a bit of both.

The Week That Was: A Good Friday, Then the Floor Gave Out

The trip started well enough. On Friday, July 17, the Twins beat the Cubs 5-2 at Wrigley behind a three-run homer from Ryan Jeffers, the capper on a four-run third inning that got rolling with a Michael Busch throwing error and a Trevor Larnach RBI single. Bailey Ober gave Minnesota a workable start, Ryan Kreidler added a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh, and for one night the Twins sat at .500 and looked frisky.

It went sideways fast. Saturday brought a 6-2 loss on the Cubs' 2016 World Series reunion day, with Matthew Boyd quieting the bats over six innings, Nico Hoerner going 4-for-4, and Kody Clemens' solo shot standing as about the only Minnesota highlight in front of a party crowd. Taj Bradley took the loss. Sunday was worse: a 10-1 drubbing in which Shota Imanaga spun seven scoreless innings, Alex Bregman homered in the first, and Hoerner — who racked up eight hits in the three games — cleared the bases with a three-run triple. Zebby Matthews wore the loss, and the Cubs took the series.

Then came Monday night in Cleveland, a game Joe Ryan will want burned from the archives. The Guardians hit seven home runs in a 13-4 blowout, tying a Progressive Field record, and six of them came off Ryan — a Twins franchise record for homers allowed in a single game, and a stunning line from a guy who walked in with a 2.86 ERA. Petey Halpin and Rhys Hoskins each went deep twice, and Chase DeLauter went 4-for-5 with three RBI. Tuesday's 5-2 loss was quieter but no less frustrating: rookie Parker Messick handled Minnesota for the bulk of the night, Jeffers' solo homer accounted for most of the offense, and starter Kendry Rojas lasted just 2.1 innings as the losing streak hit four.

The Minnesota Twins Punch Back in Cleveland

Credit where due: the Twins didn't let the trip fully rot. Wednesday they broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run fourth — helped along by a Cleveland throwing error — and won 10-6. Brooks Lee delivered the swing of the week, a three-run homer off Slade Cecconi, his 15th, and later added an RBI single to finish with four RBI. Larnach homered in the first and tacked on a two-run single in the eighth, Josh Bell drove in two, and reliever Travis Adams earned the win with two innings out of the bullpen.

Thursday's finale was the best game of the week anywhere in the Central: a 3-1 Twins win in 12 innings. Cleveland's Gavin Williams threw seven scoreless with 11 strikeouts and an immaculate inning; Bradley answered with seven innings of two-hit ball of his own. Patrick Bailey's 420-foot solo shot had the Guardians up 1-0 until pinch-hitter Alan Roden tied it in the eighth, and in the 12th, Larnach and Luke Keaschall delivered two-out RBI singles. Taylor Rogers got the win, and Jack Anderson — a waiver claim from Boston barely two weeks ago — pitched the 12th for his first career save. Cleveland went 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and Minnesota flew home on a two-game winning streak.

Standout Performances: Lee, Larnach, and a Bradley Gem

Lee's four-RBI Wednesday was the loudest single game, but Larnach was the week's most consistent presence — an RBI single Friday, a homer and a two-run single Wednesday, and the go-ahead knock in the 12th on Thursday. File that away, because his name has surfaced in trade chatter too. Jeffers, meanwhile, keeps making his hamate injury look like ancient history: two homers this week and a .288/.401/.540 season line that ranks among the best offensive production from any catcher in baseball. On the mound, Bradley's response to his Saturday loss — seven shutout innings against a hot Cleveland lineup — was exactly the bounce-back the rotation needed after Ryan's six-homer nightmare.

Where the Twins Stand in the AL Central

Here's the strange part: for all the flailing, the division is right there. The Chicago White Sox — yes, really — lead the Central at 54-47, with Cleveland 1.5 back and the Twins in third at 4.5 out. Detroit sits six back and Kansas City has fallen 12.5 behind. In the wild-card picture, Minnesota is about 2.5 games out of the final AL spot, and MLB Trade Rumors pegged their playoff odds at roughly 23 percent earlier in the week. The biggest drag remains the bullpen, which carries a 5.28 ERA, the worst mark in the majors. In a division with no juggernaut, that's the difference between hanging around and actually climbing.

Injury Report and Roster Shuffle

The rotation depth chart took two long-term hits that reshape both this season and the deadline calculus:

• Mick Abel (RHP) — underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery July 1 and is likely done for 2026, with a re-evaluation slated for late summer.
• David Festa (RHP) — still sidelined by a shoulder impingement with a possible recurrence of thoracic outlet syndrome; he hasn't pitched all year and is expected to miss the entire season.
• Anthony Banda (LHP) — on the 60-day IL following lat surgery.
• Pablo Lopez (RHP) — remains out after internal-brace elbow surgery.

On the transaction front, the front office already grabbed reliever Tommy Nance from Toronto earlier this month to triage that bullpen, and the Anderson waiver claim paid its first dividend Thursday night in Cleveland.

Deadline Watch and What's Next for Minnesota

The deadline — which falls on August 3 this year — is where this Minnesota Twins week in review gets complicated. Reporting from MLB Trade Rumors paints the club as a soft buyer and soft seller at once: open to moving rentals like Jeffers (whom the Yankees and Rays have reportedly scouted heavily), Bell, Rogers, and possibly Larnach, while still adding relief help rather than tearing anything down. Ownership isn't exactly preaching patience, either — control person Tom Pohlad has publicly said the club has "got to put a better product on the field." Trading your best-hitting catcher while claiming to chase a winnable division would be a tough sell, so the next week should tell us what this front office actually believes about this team.

The schedule, at least, cooperates. The Twins open a home series against the Athletics at Target Field:

• Friday, July 24 — Zebby Matthews vs. Jacob Lopez, 8:10 p.m. ET
• Saturday, July 25 — Joe Ryan gets his redemption start, 7:10 p.m. ET
• Sunday, July 26 — Kendry Rojas vs. Jeffrey Springs, 2:10 p.m. ET

A home set against a beatable opponent, a two-game winning streak, and a division leader nobody fears: the Minnesota Twins have every excuse to make the next seven days interesting. Whether the week ends with reinforcements or a farewell tour for Jeffers and friends, this stretch of Twins baseball will define what September looks like in Minneapolis.