The Twins’ well-earned reputation for having a rock-solid bullpen took a hit on a Saturday afternoon when the late-inning pitching was as erratic as the weather at Target Field.

Minnesota took a lead into the eighth, only to see Toronto score off relievers Griffin Jax and Johan Duran as the Blue Jays rallied for a 5-4 win, handing the Twins their third consecutive loss.

On a day where the skies went from sunny and calm to windy with clouds, and back again, with regularity, the Twins were similarly unsettled, falling behind early, rallying to lead, then seeing their scoreboard advantage slip away.

Matt Wallner and Kody Clemens homered for Minnesota. The Twins got six innings of work from starter Chris Paddack, who took a no decision.

“There’s some frustration when you lose a game that you have in hand, or at least you have a lead with some really good relievers that are coming in the game. That’s not the taste you’re looking for,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, after his team saw a lead slip away for the second consecutive game.

“But we knew that these games were going to be competitive and the team on the other side has been playing really good.” Baldelli said. “They’ve been pitching good, and they’ve been playing really good baseball. We knew we were going to have to come in and pitch very, very well. We knew we were going to have to have really solid at-bats throughout.”

Paddack needed 28 pitches to escape the first inning, including 10 foul balls by Toronto, and did not make it unscathed. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled and came around to score on a Nathan Lukes single to center, after Paddack had walked George Springer.

He got two quick outs in the second only to see Toronto double its lead when catcher Tyler Heineman, batting ninth for the Blue Jays, blasted a pitch 403 feet to right field for his second home run of the season.

“That’s a pretty tough lineup, one through nine. Not a lot of swing and miss, especially the bottom of the order, and not a lot of chase either,” Paddack said. “As pitchers, we have to beat them in zone. I recognize I threw some really good changeups early in the game and got some takes.”

Toronto starter Kevin Gausman faced the minimum number of Twins during his first trip through the order, allowing only a walk to leadoff man Trevor Larnach, who was erased two batters later when Carlos Correa bounced into a double play.

Gausman’s trouble started with one out in the fourth, when Ryan Jeffers and Correa hit back-to-back singles, and Wallner walked to load the bases.

Gausman hit Ty France to drive in a run — the league-leading 12th time that France has been plunked this season. Then Royce Lewis worked a walk to tie the game at 2-2.

The threat ended when Kody Clemens hit into a rare 5-2-3 double play, with Heineman forcing Wallner out at home, then throwing to first in time to get Clemens.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth when Wallner plopped a 1-2 pitch into the right field stands for his third homer in six games since being called up from St. Paul on May 31.

With the bases loaded and two out in the seventh, Minnesota missed a chance to blow the game open when Correa’s knock to right held up long enough for Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger to glove it.

Correa finished 1 for 4 in his first game back in the lineup after missing the previous three with upper back soreness.

Then, just as a light rain began to fall, Jax surrendered a double to Barger and a homer to left by Springer to put Toronto back in front. Barger’s hit was a slicing ball down the left field line with the Twins’ infield shifted.

“It’s annoying. I thought it was an executed cutter, he flips it down the line. Whatever,” said Jax, who took the loss, falling to 1-4. “But I still can’t focus on that, especially when Springer’s up. And I don’t think I did. I think I did a pretty good job of being more focused on executing the pitch to Springer. It’s just the pitch got away from me.”

The Blue Jays tacked on an insurance run off Duran in their final at-bat, before Clemens led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer to left. It was the career-high sixth home run of the season for Clemens, who came over from Philadelphia in a spring trade.

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“It was good to put up some runs there. I thought Gausman threw well, keeping us off balance,” said Clemens. “Just a little frustrated with myself with the bases loaded double play there. Wish I could come up for my team in that moment.”

Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman then struck out Willi Castro, got Harrison Bader to fly out to right, and coaxed a long fly ball to left center from Larnach. It was the 15th save of the season for Hoffman as Toronto won its fourth consecutive game and has won 10 of the past 12. Reliever Chad Green got the win for Toronto, improving to 2-1.

Minnesota will try to salvage a game when the series concludes with a 1:10 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

Ernie Clement #22 of the Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 celebrate their teams win against the Minnesota Twins after the game at Target Field on June 7, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images)

With roots in Southern California, where the weather is notoriously perfect for baseball, Twins first baseman Ty France – in his first season in Minnesota after spending 2024 with Cincinnati – admitted there is a little more spring in the step when you come to work on a June morning with sunshine, low humidity and the thermometer headed for the 70s.

“Whenever you get a little bit of sunshine, it’s nice to get out there,” France said prior to Saturday’s game versus Toronto, admitting that recent road trips have offered better weather than what they experienced at home early in the season.

“The first month was a little bit of a grind, but we ran into some warm weather too, in Tampa, Sacramento, Seattle was nice,” France said. “But it’s nice coming home to this, for sure.”

First proposed in the late 1990s, the original plans for a ballpark to replace the Metrodome included a retractable roof similar to those in Seattle and Houston. When legislators and much of the voting public in Minnesota soundly rejected the cost of a retractable roof facility, the design of what eventually became Target Field was scaled back, and outdoor baseball – for better or worse depending on the whims of Minnesota weather – returned in 2010.

Some believe that April and May games at Target Field, when the weather can be colder than anywhere else in the majors, give the Twins a home field advantage. On a smaller scale, similar to what the Minnesota Vikings enjoyed for their first two decades, playing outdoors at Met Stadium, where the weather could be frigid late in the football season.

France said they play in any temperature, but admitted that short sleeves and sunglasses are ideal.

“It’s a more comfortable environment for us,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily an advantage, but once we get the opportunity to thaw out after the first month, it’s nice. I haven’t played here in the summertime, but I’ve heard the ball starts carrying a little better, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Lewis past slump

After snapping out of a brutal 0-for-32 slump at the plate during the Twins’ three-city road trip, Royce Lewis continues to do good things with his bat, going 3 for 3 with a walk in Friday’s loss to Toronto.

“I think he has looked good at the plate. I think he has looked more comfortable. I think his swing has been synced up really good,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Both his timing on his swing, and actually the swing itself, has looked a lot like the Royce you would see last year at times and the year before.”

Lewis, who scored a run in the Twins’ 6-4 loss, said he’s concentrating on what he can control at the plate, and leaving the rest to the hands of fate.

I can only control so much. Once the ball leaves the bat, it’s on God and it’s on those fielders where they’re playing. So I’ve just got to keep doing my thing and controlling what I can control, and looking for my pitch, which is key I think for any hitter,” he said following Friday’s game.

“If you’re looking for your pitch, and you’re focusing on every pitch of every at-bat which is tough to do sometimes, I know you wouldn’t think it, like ‘oh, you should be focused.’ Well, sometimes you just lose sight of your plan. You get homer happy or you swing too hard. Those are the little things that I’m trying to take care of right now. Just breathing and having fun.”

Whatever is working for Lewis, Baldelli wants to see it continue.

“It’s been a week, so we want to keep this going throughout the whole season,” the manager said.

Happy birthday “Buck-Ninety”

Tim Laudner, the former Twins catcher and current member of the broadcast crew, celebrated his 67th birthday on Saturday, noting that he and late Minnesota music icon Prince entered this world on the same day: June 7, 1958.

Born in Iowa, Laudner played high school baseball at Park Center, in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis and at the University of Missouri before making his major league debut with the Twins in 1981.

As a catcher on Minnesota’s 1987 World Series title team, Laudner was beloved for his local roots, and playfully teased for his light-hitting ways.

He batted .191 for the 1987 season with 16 home runs, prompting some fans to hang a banner from the facing of the Metrodome’s upper deck during the playoffs with Laudner’s number, declaring them members of the “Buck-Ninety Fan Club” in reference to his batting average.

In the clubhouse before Saturday’s game, Laudner joked about being the second most prominent Minnesotan – after Prince, who died in 2016 – but said that a fan once noted that for their careers, Laudner had more hits than the musician.

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There’s a reason that so many people are struggling to come to terms with that fact that Vikings legend Jim Marshall is gone.

Because of the way he lived, it almost seemed he couldn’t die.

The icon affectionately known as “The Captain” by his peers passed away last week at the age of 87 following a lengthy hospitalization. The original iron man in the NFL, Marshall played in 282 consecutive games during his career, most of them coming for the Vikings, all of them on the defensive line.

As former teammates and others have pointed out, the resumé seems to demand enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That never happened in his lifetime. Instead, Marshall has been immortalized in a different way, his legacy living on in those who had the privilege of coming into contact with him.

In the wake of Marshall’s death, the Pioneer Press tracked down some of his former teammates and asked them for their favorite story about the man who put fear into quarterbacks as a founding member of the Purple People Eaters with fellow defensive end Carl Eller and defensive tackles Gary Larsen and Alan Page.

Maybe it’s fitting that Eller couldn’t think of a favorite story considering he played with Marshall longer than anybody. They spent spent so much time together, he said, that it was simply too hard for him to pick a singular moment.

“Most of my time in the NFL was with him,” said Eller, 83, who played with Marshall from 1964-79. “All I can do is reminisce about all the good times we had.”

Here’s what some others had to say about Marshall.

‘All of a sudden an ambulance pulled up’

It was standard practice for the Vikings to have players check into a nearby hotel the night before any home game at Met Stadium. On a particular occasion, former Vikings running back Chuck Foreman remembers checking into the hotel and being told that Marshall was in the hospital.

“We didn’t think he was coming to the game,” said Foreman, 74, who played with Marshall from 1973-79. “Why would he if he spent the night in the hospital?”

That notion was dispelled shortly after the players arrived at Met Stadium the following morning.

“All of a sudden, an ambulance pulled up and he got out,” Foreman said. “He came into the locker room, got dressed, and went out and played in the game. He was relentless. There was never any quit in him.”

Those are the types of tales that used to have teammates joking that Marshall was secretly a part of the Navy SEALs on the side.

“You didn’t want to mess with him,” Foreman said. “You know what I mean?”

Not that Marshall was deliberately intimidating. He demanded respect without even raising his voice.

“I don’t think there will ever be another person like him,” Foreman said. “I think when God molded him, he said to himself, ‘I’m only going to use this mold once.’ ”

‘I wanted to impress him every game’

When he was abruptly traded in 1976, former Vikings receiver Ahmad Rashad remembers feeling like his world was being turned upside down. Luckily for Rashad, he was greeted by Marshall upon his arrival in Minnesota.

“He accepted me and made me feel like a part of the team,” said Rashad, 75, who played with Marshall from 1976-79. “He welcomed me with open arms and became a very dear friend right off the bat.”

They developed their own way of communicating on the sideline.

“He would always come up to me and matter of factly go, ‘Come on Ahmad,’ ” Rashad said. “I can still hear him saying that in my head.”

The words were used strategically by Marshall over the course of a game. He always seemed to save them for when the Vikings needed a big play. It was almost like he knew that it would inspire Rashad to step up and make something happen.

“I wanted to impress him every game,” Rashad said. “I knew if I could impress him, I was doing a pretty damn good job because he was hard to impress.”

‘He beat me fair and square’

There was an annual tradition when the Vikings used to hold training camp in Mankato. All of the rookies were required to put on a show of some sort, former Vikings tight end Stu Voigt said, and the performance always took place inside Gage Hall on campus.

“We would sing and dance and make a fool of ourselves,” said Voigt, 76, who played with Marshall from 1970-79. “Then came the beer chugging contest.”

The rules were straightforward. You cracked open a bottle of beer and raced Marshall to the bottom. No room for any gray area.

As a product of the University of Wisconsin, Voigt fashioned himself as a pretty good beer drinker.

“It’s kind of a rite of passage down there,” he said. “I had some practice.”

Not enough to compete with Marshall.

“He sits down and makes that bottle of beer disappear in a matter of seconds,” Voigt said. “He finished and I was only about halfway done with mine.”

It was a humbling experience for Voigt as he realized it was best not to challenge Marshall in anything.

“He beat me fair and square,” Voigt said. “I thought it would be a contest. It wasn’t even close. Even in stuff like that he reigned supreme.”

As special as Marshall was for the Vikings on the field, Voigt said his folklore extended off the field, as well.

“There was a rumor going around that he was training to fight Muhammad Ali,” Voigt said. “That’s the kind of guy he was. There are all of these fables about him. He was a larger-than-life character.”

‘He was always up to something’

Some of the best stories about Marshall sound like they couldn’t possibly be real.

All a part of his mystique.

There was the time he crashed his hang glider into a light pole in Bloomington. There was the time he got stranded in the mountains of Yellowstone National Park during a blizzard. There was the time he accidentally shot himself in the stomach.

Wait. What?

Allow former Vikings tight end Jerry Reichow to explain.

“That actually happened,” said Reichow, 91, who played with Marshall from 1961-64. “He got hit right in the belly.”

After hearing a news report at the time that somebody on the Vikings was involved in an incident, Reichow remembers thinking to himself that Marshall was probably involved in some way, shape, or form.

“It was always him,” Reichow said with a laugh. “He was always up to something.”

As he let himself go down memory lane, Reichow started to laugh on multiple occasions, gleefully recalling how Marshall always lived life to the fullest. The joy that Marshall exuded was infectious to everybody around him.

“He was our leader and everybody loved him,” Reichow said. “I can’t put it into words what he meant to us. He wasn’t just a good guy. He was a great guy.”

‘I didn’t know what I was getting myself into’

The race covered the 80 miles or so from Mankato to Bloomington, and usually started with Marshall firing a pistol into the air. That served as the official start as the Vikings made their way to preseason games at Met Stadium as fast as they could.

To cut down on the need for speed, former Vikings head coach Bud Grant used to have state patrol line Highway 169, pulling over anybody traveling a little too fast for their own good.

The only issue was that Marshall was above the law. That’s something former Vikings running back Rickey Young found out the hard way.

“I remember somebody told me to ride with him,” said Young, 71, who played with Marshall from 1975-79. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”

Never mind that the state patrol was handing out tickets to some of their teammates. They never stopped Marshall. They would just wave him along.

“I’m sitting there in the passenger seat like, ‘Please God. Let them stop this guy. I need to get out of this damn car,’ ” Young said with a laugh. “We were driving like 90 mph the whole way to Met Stadium.”

They pulled into the parking lot so early that the concession stand workers were just getting there.

“I swear my fingernail marks are still in the side of his door of his Mercedes Benz where I was holding onto the leather for dear life,” Young said. “I never rode with him again after that unless I was driving.”

That didn’t stop Young from building a close friendship with Marshall. They stayed in touch regularly long after they were done playing. As the memories came flooding back, Young found himself getting choked up.

“It seems like I’ve known him forever,” Young said. “Now that he’s gone, I’m starting to realize it wasn’t long enough.”

‘We were all lucky to have known him’

As he reflected on his time as Marshall’s teammate, former Vikings cornerback Bobby Bryant kept going back to the work itself.

“He practiced like he played,” said Bryant, 81, who played with Marshall from 1968-79. “He made sure that everybody brought it.”

The secret sauce for Marshall was the way he always struck the perfect balance between telling it like it is and leading by example. No wonder the nickname “The Captain” stuck long after he retired.

“He personified it,” Bryant said. “They don’t make very many like him anymore.”

Though it was easy to be awestruck by Marshall from afar during his prime, Bryant recalled how that feeling dissipated shortly after meeting him. Whether it was a simple handshake or a deep conversation, Marshall’s superpower was his ability to connect.

“He had a way about him that made everybody feel like they were his friend,” Bryant said. “We were all lucky to have known him.”

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Vikings legend Jim Marshall was a champion for young people. Now fellow Vikings legend Alan Page is honoring Marshall’s legacy through an expansion of coverage for scholarship recipients.

In the wake of Marshall’s death, the Page Education Foundation announced that those that receive the Page Grant can use it to cover the full cost of attendance starting this fall. Previously, the Page Grant only could be used to cover the cost of tuition.

In a release, Page noted how Marshall believed in lifting up others throughout his life, adding, “Expanding this grant is a way we continue to honor that belief and ensure the next generation can rise.”

The expansion specifically allows scholarship recipients to use the Page Grant for college expenses including housing, meals, transportation, books and childcare.

“In the face of shifting national conversations about equity in education, we’re choosing to stay grounded in our mission,” executive director Amanda Moua said in a release. “This expansion ensures our scholars receive support that truly meets the realities they face in college today.”

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