Something rotten in the state of Minnesota; Mariners lose 11-4

Apr 27, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver (18) hits a RBI single against the Minnesota Twins in the fifth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images The old saying in baseball is you win 50, lose 50, and it’s what you do with the rest that counts, but what the adage doesn’t take into account is the number of games that are Cursèd. For the Seattle Mariners, those Cursèd Games seem to usually happen in spring in the Midwest, or in Angel Stadium.

Tonight’s game might have started on time, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t start Cursèd. Luis Castillo did not do anything to beat the warm-weather-pitching allegations, surrendering seven runs, although not all of them were entirely his fault; the Twins got their first run on a wacky send of slow-footed Josh Bell from first after Rob Refsnyder couldn’t get a clean handle on the soggy ball, which had rolled itself under the padding in right field. A good relay from Cole Young almost had Bell out at the plate, but Mitch Garver couldn’t get the tag down cleanly, putting the Twins ahead 1-0.

The damage could have been much worse, as Castillo ran into trouble after that; he gave up back-to-back free passes to load the bases, once that wasn’t his fault (Matt Wallner leaning his pantleg into a slider) and once that was (walking the nine-hole hitter Tristan Gray), but got Byron Buxton to pop out to strand the bases loaded. But that aforementioned worse damage came in the third inning. Julio Rodríguez misplayed a ball hit deep to center, allowing a one-out triple to Trevor Larnach, and then Castillo walked Bell despite having him in a 1-2 count.

Ryan Jeffers singled to bring home Larnach, and then Kody Clemens, my least favorite Twin and that includes both Winklevosses, turnt-and-burnt on an inside fastball for a three-run home run. The beatings would continue but morale would not improve with a two-run homer from Byron Buxton in the fourth. Castillo managed to scrape through one more scoreless inning to at least give the bullpen a slightly smaller elephant to eat, but the hole was well and thoroughly dug.