Rather than conduct his postgame interview at a podium like starting pitchers normally do, Simeon Woods Richardson spoke to reporters in front of his locker, sitting on the floor.

Why?

After pitching through an Extreme Heat Warning — it was 89 degrees at first pitch and the temperature kept climbing into the afternoon — Woods Richardson was dealing with some cramping.

“It felt like I was back at home (in Houston) in 105 degrees weather,” Woods Richardson said. “My jersey was soaked, everything was soaked. … First inning took a little while, but as the game went on, I’d say I got progressively better.”

Coming off a start in which he needed just 53 pitches to completely shut down the Houston Astros in five innings, Woods Richardson — who was not particularly helped by his defense in the early innings — issued a couple of walks and allowed four hits in his first two innings of work.

It took 52 pitches to get through those innings, by which point the Brewers had scored four of their nine runs in a 9-0 win over the Twins on Saturday afternoon at Target Field. But then he settled in, did not allow another hit and worked six innings.

“I think everything kind of got better as the game went on,” he said. “I started hitting my stride in the third inning. I was like, ‘OK, now we’re getting somewhere.’ But, yeah, those first two innings, it took a little time to get going. (I was) missing the strike zone with pretty much every single one of my pitches.”

Woods Richardson was even given the opportunity to face the lineup the third time through, a rarity for him as the Twins have typically lifted him early. He handled that opportunity well, too, and finished his day by retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

The starter began the season in the major leagues but was demoted in mid-May with a 5.02 earned-run average at the time. With injuries to Pablo López and Zebby Matthews, he re-entered the rotation earlier this month.

“He gave us six innings when we needed it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “First couple innings, I think what happened was he didn’t have the feel for the breaking balls that he was looking for and he ended up having to throw a bunch of fastballs. … He found those pitches. He competed well.”

Larnach out again

Trevor Larnach was scratched from the lineup on Friday, a day after being hit by a pitch by Reds pitcher Nick Martinez. He remained out of the lineup on Saturday when the Twins faced left-hander Jose Quintana, but Baldelli said Larnach’s right hand was improving and he thought the outfielder might be available to help late in Saturday’s game if needed.

Larnach did not wind up appearing in the game.

“(Friday) it was still bothering him pretty good,” Baldelli said. “And then he woke up the next day, showed up and it was a little swollen and sore and he really wasn’t able to swing the way he needed to. So, he’s getting treatment.”

Briefly

The Twins will send David Festa to the mound on Sunday against the Brewers. Festa gave up four runs — two earned — in his last start, which lasted just 3⅔ innings. … Emmanuel Rodriguez, one of the Twins’ top prospects, began a rehab assignment on Saturday in the Florida Complex League. Rodriguez has been out all of June with a hip injury. … Brewers left fielder Isaac Collins, who hails from Maple Grove, finished the day 2 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs on Saturday.

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DULUTH — To supplement his running career, 31-year-old Joel Reichow works about 25 hours a week selling shoes at Fleet Feet in Minneapolis. Inside the store where he has worked the past seven years is a poster of Grandma’s Marathon legends Dick Beardsley and Garry Bjorklund.

Reichow took a picture in front of the poster this week and posted it to Instagram ahead of his first full marathon along Minnesota’s North Shore.

He even cut his mustache as a tribute to them for the pic.

“Celebrating Grandma’s Marathon week with an epic throwback pic of Minnesota legends Dick Beardsley and Garry Bjorklund battling it out at Grandma’s in 1981!” Reichow posted on Instagram. “I’ve raced the Garry Bjorklund Half a few times, but this weekend will be my first time doing the full there! Hopefully, we can make some magic happen!”

The White Bear Lake resident sure did make some magic in his first attempt at running Grandma’s Marathon. He traversed the North Shore from Two Harbors to Canal Park in Duluth in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 58 seconds, to become just the fourth Minnesotan to win the men’s title in the state’s oldest and largest marathon.

Reichow is the first American to win the men’s marathon since Chris Raabe of Sauk Rapids, Minn., in 2009 and only the second American to win the men’s race in the last 30 years.

A member of Minnesota Distance Elite, Reichow is the first man or woman to win both the full and half marathons. He won the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in 2023 and came in fourth a year ago in the 13.1-mile race.

Dakotah Popehn — an Olympian and two-time Grandma’s Marathon women’s champion — again fell just short of becoming the first to claim that honor Saturday when she took second in the Bjorklund to Annie Frisbie for the second consecutive summer.

“This was my goal. I wanted to chase it. Dream big,” Reichow said of winning Grandma’s on Saturday. “I knew there was a lot of good people. I just needed to play smart.

“I would have loved to chase the record (2:09:06), but it was a little muggy today. I think we were kind of on that pace early with the surges, but probably by 10K it was pretty obvious we weren’t going to chase that.”

Bjorklund and Beardsley both won Grandma’s Marathon twice between 1977-82, when five of the first six winners in Grandma’s Marathon history were Americans. Americans won 11 of the first 19 Grandma’s Marathons between 1977 and 1995, with Bjorklund winning the first in 1977.

Kenyans had won 10 straight Grandma’s Marathon men’s titles coming into the 49th running, and 38-year-old Sammy Rotich — who has finished in the top 10 twice, including second in 2022 — led the race at Lemon Drop Hill. Reichow reeled Rotich in on London Road and opened up what would finally be a 46-second difference at the finish line.

In addition to Rotich, Reichow bested two Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Famers — five-time champion Elisha Barno and two-time champ/event record holder Dominic Ondoro. Both failed to finish the race Saturday, with Ondoro dropping out late after being part of a large lead pack at the midway point.

“I knew it was going to be hard, I knew it was going to hurt, but I thought it was within my means,” Reichow said of winning Saturday. “You can’t race scared. You have to trust yourself.”

On the women’s side, Lilian Chebii of Kenya has run just two marathons in her life. The 31-year-old finished as runner-up in her first marathon in 2024, taking second at the Nairobi City Marathon in 2:28:29.

On Saturday in Duluth, she got a win in her second shot at the 26.2-mile distance, winning the Grandma’s Marathon women’s title in 2:25:14, beating the rest of the field by two minutes.

In the wheelchair division, Luis Francisco Sanclemente won his second consecutive Grandma’s Marathon in 1:26:02. Vanessa Cristina de Souza, a two-time Paralympian from Brazil, won the women’s wheelchair division in 1:39:55.

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It may have turned into one of Simeon Woods Richardson’s better starts this year, but it sure didn’t start that way. Woods Richardson slogged through a 30-pitch first inning, giving up a pair of runs. He allowed another two runs in the second inning. But then he settled in, finishing his day off with four strong, scoreless innings.

By then, the Twins were already in a four-run hole. And with no run support to speak of, that spelled doom on Saturday in their 9-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on a steamy day at Target Field.

A day after Brewers rookie starter Jacob Misiorowski flirted with a perfect game, the Twins managed only slightly more against veteran southpaw Jose Quintana, who gave up three scattered hits in his six innings.

Quintana did issue four walks, creating some opportunities for the Twins, but they finished the day 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position as they continued to sputter.

The Twins have now lost eight of their past nine games, five straight series and seven of their past eight series.

The Twins finished with just four hits, though none from infielder Brooks Lee, whose 19-game hitting streak was the longest active streak in Major League Baseball when it came to an end on Saturday.

Harrison Bader #12 of the Minnesota Twins slides safely into first after the Milwaukee Brewers caught a fly ball for an out in the second inning at Target Field on June 21, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images)
Milwaukee Brewers’ Sal Frelick (10) hits a single off of Minnesota Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

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The Gophers football program flipped California prep quarterback Furian Inferrera from a commitment to Boston College on Saturday.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound product in the 2027 class is from Mater Dei High School and Santa Ana, Calif. The to-be junior with a three-star rating pledged to Boston College in February, with Minnesota offering on May 1.

As a sophomore at the national powerhouse, Inferrera was a backup to Dash Beierly, who has joined the Washington Huskies. Inferrera completed 75% of his passes (12 of 16) for 133 yards and one touchdown across nine games.

Inferrera, who is pegged as the 36th-best QB in the 2027 class, had nine offers, including Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Memphis and Oregon State.

The Gophers plucked a previous QB recruit out of California, with Jackson Kollock coming to the U from Laguna Beach in the 2025 class.

Inferrera joins Wayzata defensive lineman Eli Diane as early entrants in Minnesota’s 2027 class.

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