Chris Paddack’s dominant outing lifts bullpen, extends Twins’ win streak to six

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MINNEAPOLIS — A function of winning close games in bunches, as the Twins recently have, is a worn-down back end of the bullpen.

On one hand, the problem makes a manager’s life more challenging by limiting a team’s available options to potentially finish a close game. On the other, it’s a good problem for a team only 19 days removed from a 7-15 start.

Winners of their previous five games, the Twins were extremely short-handed in the bullpen on Friday night as Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were unavailable, and another key reliever was limited.

But Chris Paddack made it all moot.

Working with some of his best stuff of the season and attacking hitters early, Paddack delivered a season-high 7 1/3 stellar innings, and the Twins increased their winning streak to six games with 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants in front of 21,744 at Target Field. Paddack was perfect for 17 batters, and the Twins finally snapped a 17-game losing streak when scoring three runs or fewer.

Danny Coulombe struck out two in a perfect ninth inning to increase his scoreless streak, which dates back to last May, to 25 1/3 innings, including 15 1/3 this season.

“The bullpen needed a break,” Paddack said. “Those guys have been busting their tail.”

Paddack navigated the waters tonight 💯 pic.twitter.com/gTVTB51d4G

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 10, 2025

Since making two bad starts to begin the season, Paddack has been pitching his tail off, even as many in the fan base have been clamoring for him to move to the bullpen to make space for David Festa or Zebby Matthews.

Though his previous five starts were limited to five innings, Paddack kept the Twins in each game, posting a 2.88 ERA in that span.

But Paddack took it up a notch Friday.

The velocity on all of Paddack’s pitches was up from his season average, including a four-seam fastball that averaged 95 mph, a pitch he unexpectedly leaned on. The scouting report originally didn’t call for heavy fastball usage, but Paddack’s was good enough tonight to throw it 48 times in 83 pitches.

“You can get away with a lot more,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “You can throw more fastballs when his fastball is 95-96 (mph).”

Using his four-seamer to get ahead in the count, Paddack attacked San Francisco hitters at will. He threw first-pitch strikes on 20 of 25 offerings and yielded very little hard contact.

“He came out firing,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He was all over the strike zone. He made that happen. I mean, he was awesome. That was like guns blazing, great fastball, off-speed stuff commanded, and he used it about as well as I’ve seen him. That was sick.”

Paddack’s perfection nearly lasted only two batters.

Four pitches into the game, Willy Adames crushed a hanging 1-2 slider for what appeared to be a solo home run, only for the call to be overturned by replay, the ball swerving just left of the foul pole. Two pitches later, Paddack struck out Adames, and he was off.

Through two innings, no Giant hit a ball off Paddack harder than 89 mph. He struck out the side in the third and cruised through the fourth. San Francisco hitters made harder contact in the fifth, but everything found a glove as anticipation began to build about a potential perfect game.

“I feel like we know that after the first inning,” Paddack said. “You’re lying if you say you’re not. … After (Carlos) Correa came up to me and was like, ‘Dude, this is the best I’ve seen your stuff. Keep attacking.’ That gave me some more confidence, like, ‘My stuff is elite tonight, let’s continue to do what we’re doing.’”

Working with a three-run lead, Paddack recorded the first two outs of the sixth inning before No. 9 hitter Christian Koss ended his bid with a single to right-center. An inning later, Paddack surrendered his only run of the night when Matt Chapman belted a changeup for a solo homer to make it a 3-1 game.

Paddack was so good that Baldelli allowed him to start the eighth inning, replacing him after two batters with Louis Varland. Varland, who’d pitched in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s wins, stranded the inherited runner with two quick outs.

Coulombe, who also pitched in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s wins, took over in the ninth with a three-batter limit. With Cole Sands warming in case the Giants extended the inning, Coulombe retired the side on nine pitches.

“Most of our back-end guys were down,” Jeffers said. “Giving them a day like that (was important). … But I think it’s one of the important parts of who we are as a team and as a bullpen. We’ve got the depth to be able to cover games like that when we don’t have two guys.”

Offense scrapes by

After scoring 28 runs in their previous five games, the Twins were limited by San Francisco’s Jordan Hicks. Still, they had just enough production to win their first contest of the season with fewer than three runs.

Byron Buxton continued his hot streak by reaching base three more times, including opening the game with a triple. Buxton scored on Trevor Larnach’s RBI single to make it 1-0 in the first inning.

Buxton: still CRUSHING IT ✅ pic.twitter.com/3Meie4NmKr

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 10, 2025

Ty France’s single and fourth-inning stolen base led to the next run as Correa hit a two-out single to right, one of his two hits.

The Twins scored a third run in the fifth inning as Harrison Bader and Buxton singled, with Kody Clemens getting hit by a pitch in between. Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos booted Buxton’s single, which allowed Bader to score to make it 3-0.

The Twins are now 1-17 when scoring three or fewer runs. They’re 18-3 when scoring four or more runs.

Joe Ryan feeling better

Twins starter Joe Ryan felt a little weaker, but he is ready to go for Saturday night after an illness pushed back his turn in the rotation. Ryan had a 102-degree fever and estimates he threw up 20-30 times on Monday night, including briefly vomiting blood.

After he didn’t sleep much Monday, Ryan received an IV at the ballpark on Tuesday and went home to rest. He felt good enough to play catch Wednesday and threw a bullpen session Thursday.

“I’ve never thrown up that much in my life,” Ryan said. “I’ve literally never had anything like that. … Intense.”

(Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn / Imagn Images)

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