The Minnesota Twins series against the Kansas City Royals started with some umpire controversy but ended on a historic note. Rocco Baldelli was tossed from Game 1 on Tuesday when he argued a questionable pitch clock violation by Simeon Woods Richardson, which put a sour taste in everyone's mouth from there on out.
It was a perfect precursor to how miserable the series ended up being for Minnesota as the Twins were swept by Kansas City and extended their losing streak to five games. That last matchup, however, had a happy result for more than just the Royals.
On Friday the Umpire Scorecard for the game was revealed and it showed that home plate umpire Mark Ripperger had called a perfect game.
MLB umpire Mark Ripperger records the second-ever perfect game
Since Umpire Scorecards have started to be recorded, Ripperger's perfect game is just the second one we've ever seen. It also shows that if the Twins want to complain about how things went in Kasnas City, they can't blame umpiring for what happened.
Check out the scorecard, it's objectively pretty awesome:
🚨🚨 ALERT: SECOND EVER PERFECT GAME IN UMPSCORECARDS ERA 🚨🚨 https://t.co/SWIxVYLJXk
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) April 11, 2025
For those wondering how far back the data actually goes, this stuff has been collected since 2015. In that time only Pat Hoberg had called a perfect game, which happened in Game 2 of the 2023 World Series.
He's no longer alone in what is a pretty incredible category to be in. Fans -- and managers -- love to complain about umpiring and there's a certain degree of truth in the angst. That's what makes Ripperger's feat so much better because there is a ton of pressure on umps to get things right.
Only two have gotten is as right as we saw on Thursday night, which was perhaps the only notable thing Twins fans could take from the game without needing to shower off the shame afterward.
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