The Minnesota Twins are 1-2 after their opening series in Baltimore. There are plenty of positives to take away from the series, including great starts from Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley, and strong offensive performances from Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, Trevor Larnach, Tristan Gray and others. However, the team lost the series due to a critical issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
Minnesota Twins must address lack of clutch hitting
Before diving into the team's lack of clutch hitting, several players deserve recognition for getting big hits during the opening series against Baltimore. Lewis hit a two-run homer during the Twins' Game 2 win against the Orioles on Saturday and hit a game-tying homer during the seventh inning of the series finale on Sunday, which Minnesota ultimately lost 8-6. Buxton hit a triple in the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly from Luke Keaschall to lower the deficit to one run during Game 1 on Thursday, and Gray hit a bases-clearing double on Sunday.
Unfortunately, those clutch hits weren't enough to win the series. The Twins created plenty of scoring opportunities during the series, but failed to capitalize on many of them.
In Game 1 of the series with Baltimore, Minnesota went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Granted, a formidable pitcher in Trevor Rogers made the start for the Orioles, but the team still created scoring situations, yet couldn't score more than one run.
The Twins only got one runner in scoring position during Game 2 of the series. Then, in the finale on Sunday, Minnesota went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position. While that translates to a great .308 batting average, the team still left plenty of runs on the table.
With two outs in the top of the fifth inning and the game tied 5-5 on Sunday, the Twins worked three straight walks. Matt Wallner then came to the plate and struck out looking on a full count to end the inning. Wallner challenged the final pitch of the at-bat, but the ABS system showed it was clearly a strike.
Matt Wallner took this pitch with the bases loaded and two outs then challenged the strike call. pic.twitter.com/s8kkNd8X9i
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 29, 2026
The Orioles proceeded to take an 8-5 lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Twins loaded the bases with no outs, but managed to push just one run across. Lewis, Kody Clemens and Buxton all struck out. Minnesota also got two runners on in the ninth before the Orioles closed out the game.
While it's very early in the season, it's still discouraging to see the Twins waste so many opportunities during their opening series, especially since the team ranked 29th in OPS with runners in scoring position (.671) last season.