Simeon Woods Richardson chased early as Twins fall to Marlins
Final
Starting pitcher performance
It was yet another tough start for Simeon Woods Richardson , who did not complete four innings. Woods Richardson’s outing began with a first inning in which he walked three batters, allowed one single and saw another batter reach on a Luke Keaschall error. A double-play ball and a caught stealing helped him minimize the damage, but the Marlins still scored two runs in the inning and never trailed after that.
“Falling behind in counts and walks definitely don’t give the team a chance to win,” Woods Richardson said.
Miami added two more off Woods Richardson in the second, and eventually chased him out of the game in the fourth before he could record an out in the frame. All told, he gave up eight runs — six earned — in the outing, bloating his ERA to 7.71 on the season.
He hasn’t made it through five innings in any of his last four starts and the Twins are 1-8 in games he has started this season. Asked if they had considered a role change for Woods Richardson, who is out of minor league options, manager Derek Shelton said they “haven’t talked about that.”
Checking in on the local
Woodbury’s own Max Meyer picked up the win on Wednesday night in his first-ever matchup against the Twins. Meyer has been injured the past few seasons when the Twins have played the Marlins, meaning Wednesday’s start was a long time in the making.
The righty threw 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, two of which came on solo home runs to Byron Buxton , while striking out nine. Meyer ran into some trouble in the fifth, allowing a pair of runs — both scored on a Josh Bell double — but protected the lead that was given to him throughout the night.
Twins standout performer
Buxton welcomed Meyer back to the Twin Cities by bashing the first pitch out of his hand, a high fastball, to the left-field stands. He took the first pitch of his second at-bat out to left-center, cutting the Marlins’ lead to 4-2 at the time. In total, Buxton has hit 15 home runs in his past 26 games.
“He’s an elite player and we’re seeing that,” Shelton said.
Up next
Right-hander Zebby Matthews will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start Thursday’s game against Miami because Minnesota is pushing rookie Connor Prielipp back as they monitor his workload. Matthews hasn’t pitched in the majors this season after going 5-6 with a 5.56 ERA in 16 starts for the Twins last season. He is 3-2 with a 4.72 ERA in seven starts for St. Paul this season. Minnesota will make a corresponding roster move on Thursday.
