On October 5th, 2004, the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 2-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS, behind Johan Santana’s seven scoreless innings. They would go on to lose the next three games to New York. They lost three more games to Oakland in 2006, followed by ten consecutive losses to New York, spanning from 2009-2019. In 2020 they finally got to play someone else–the Houston Astros. It did not matter–two more losses made eighteen consecutive playoff losses. Just one win was needed to break the curse, appease the fans, and open the floodgates.
Game 1
Twins starting pitcher, Pablo Lopez, entered the stadium wearing a vintage Twins jersey, number 57, with Johan Santana on the back. It had been eighteen years and three hundred sixty-three days since Santana led the Twins to their last playoff win. Lopez was making a statement–he was here to end the streak.
Game 1 started with a bang. Three batters into the game, star rookie Royce Lewis turned on a fastball and put it in the seats. Target Field went into a frenzy. Lewis was questionable going into the series. He could not run at full speed, still recovering from a hamstring injury. Fortunately, he could jog around the bases. as he put the Twins up 2-0.
The hobbled hero struck again in the 3rd inning. After a long at bat, Blue Jays ace, Kevin Gausman, made a mistake, and Lewis hit it the other way for a home run, 3-0 Twins.
With the help of Michael A. Taylor’s diving catch and a heroic play by shortstop Carlos Correa to throw a runner out at the plate, Pablo Lopez threw five scoreless innings. When the bullpen entered with a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, Taylor made another catch against the wall to preserve the lead.
Relievers Caleb Theilbar and Griffin Jax threw scoreless innings, which brought on flame-throwing closer, Jhoan Duran. The crowd was on their feet for the entire inning, roaring with every strike. Blue Jays center fielder, George Springer, was the potential tying run, hitting with two outs in the ninth. He smacked a hard line drive, intercepted by first baseman Donovan Solano, who ran to the bag for the final out. “Eighteen is enough,” yelled ESPN announcer Michael Kay.
Game 2
Jose Berrios was drafted by the Twins in 2012. In 2021, after nine years in the organization, Berrios was traded away to the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, he started in a playoff game against his former team. The Twins opposed with veteran, Sonny Gray, who had the second-best regular-season ERA in the American League. This was his first postseason start since 2017.
Both teams exchanged scoreless frames through three innings. Berrios was dominating, getting swings and misses, leading to five strikeouts. Sonny Gray on the other hand, was stranding runners on base. After nine runners were left on base in game one, the Blue Jays left five more on base in the first three innings.
In a shocking move, Blue Jays manager, John Schnieder, took out Berrios after only three innings. Some theorized that the decision was preplanned, driven by advanced analytics. Reliever Yusei Kikuchi immediately surrendered a pair of singles and a walk, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead and all the momentum.
In the 5th inning the Blue Jays had an opportunity to strike back with runners on first and second, two out, and their best hitter at the plate, Bo Bichette. With a 3-2 count, Gray turned and fired to shortstop Carlos Correa, picking off the Jays runner, a heads-up play by the Twins veterans.
The very next inning the Blue Jays had the bases loaded and one out. A line drive that would have given the Jays the lead landed barely foul. The at-bat ended in a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play, another missed opportunity for Toronto.
The Twins bullpen was flawless once again. This time, Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax set it up perfectly for Jhoan Duran. Duran ended it with his one-hundred-one MPH fastball. The celebration was on.
After six thousand, nine hundred thirty-three days without a playoff win, the 2023 Twins changed the narrative and won two games in two days. On Tuesday, they won their first playoff game since 2004, and on Wednesday, they followed it up with their first series win since 2002.
Now the Twins will face the Houston Astros in a five game series in the American League Division Series. The Astros have won the ALDS six straight years and won the World Series last year. It will be a tall task for the Twins, but if any team can do it, it is the 2023 Minnesota Twins.
