The box score shows that Twins right-handed starter Simeon Woods Richardson did not get the decision in Thursday’s win over the Chicago White Sox. But a decision with far more consequences did go his way.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed before the game that the 23-year-old Woods Richardson had earned a spot in the Twins’ starting rotation. He essentially switches spots with Louie Varland, sent down to the Saints earlier this week after struggling as a member of the rotation.

Asked what it felt like to be part of the rotation, Woods Richardson said: “Long time coming. A lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the years.”

“It’s actually a sense of humbleness, one, thankfulness, gratitude,” he added. “But it’s time to get back to work. We’re still trying to get better, we’re still trying to learn. We’re still trying to ask questions of all these guys and trying to be a better pitcher.”

Woods Richardson came to the Twins from Toronto in 2021 along with Austin Martin in the trade that sent Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays. He currently is ranked the No. 24 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

Woods Richardson said he was told he was going to pitch on Thursday earlier in the week, but the Twins didn’t announce it until after Wednesday night’s game, with Bailey Ober’s start pushed back a day.

“With Lou’s spot in the rotation opening up, we obviously had a place there,” Baldelli said. “We had an option on when to throw Simeon. It allowed us to push some of our guys back; get Bailey the extra day more than anything else.

“Bailey is doing great, but if we can get him an extra day, I think that makes some sense. Sim was also ready to throw; this was his day to pitch. It all kind of just pointed to today.”

Until now, Woods Richardson had been used as an emergency starter for the Twins, with him returning to the Saints after the game. Baldelli praised the way Woods Richardson handled a difficult situation, showing maturity beyond his age.

“It’s not easy going back and forth, and not really knowing where you’re going to be,” the manager said. “He knows where he stands. He knows as a young player you’re going to have to prove yourself.

“You have to be able to take advantage of the opportunities whenever and wherever they come from. He’s handled everything well.”

Correa getting close

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, sidelined since April 13 because of a right intercostal strain, has resumed baseball activities and will be with the team on the road trip that begins Friday night in Anaheim, Calif. He could be back in the lineup before the team returns from the six-game trip.

“I don’t want to make any statements because I don’t know what his next four or five days are going to look like,” Baldelli said. “But he’s put himself in a good spot; he’s had no setbacks.

“The injury proved to be what we thought it was — a mild strain. So, he can do a lot. We want to make sure he can do everything pain free. It’s been very positive.”

Farmer’s struggles

Twins infielder Kyle Farmer, whose offensive struggles continue, was not in the lineup on Thursday. The 33-year-old Farmer, a lifetime .250 hitter, is hitting .067 this season and is hitless in his past 14 at-bats.

Baldelli spent some time with Farmer in his office prior to the game.

“Everybody needs to converse, to talk about some things and get your mind off of some things,” Baldelli said. “This might be one of those times for Kyle. He’s going to be fine.”

Suddenly, the Twins are talking about a winning streak, about playing the type of baseball they believe they are capable of playing, about hot bats and playing well in all facets of the game.

A four-game sweep can lead to that, and the Twins saw their wishes become reality on Thursday afternoon, beating the Chicago White Sox 6-3 before an announced crowd of 20,363.

“I think going into this series we felt that this was a stretch that we have the opportunity to turn some stuff around,” said Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, who hit his fourth home run of the season. “Kind of get some mojo back, start swinging it better. I think we did exactly that.

“I thinks there’s still are areas where we can improve, there’s still spots where we’re going to get better.”

The Twins hit five home runs — all after the fifth inning — to erase a 2-0 deficit. They twice went back to back; Edouard Julien and Jeffers in the sixth, and Carlos Santana and Jose Miranda in the eighth. Julien hit his second of the game in seventh.

Right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, called up from the Saints to make his third major-league start and second this season, pitched five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. The bullpen kept things in check until the ninth when the White Sox scratched across a run.

“You have to like a lot of what we saw today,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was a really good series for us. We wanted to get a lot of things in order this week at home and play well. We were able to do much of it.”

The White Sox, who dropped to 3-22, are losing at an alarming rate. But as far as the Twins are concerned, a sweep is a sweep, no matter the opponent.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 25: Simeon Woods Richardson #78 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Target Field on April 25, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

“They’re a big-league club,” Jeffers said. “I don’t think we treat it any differently. You can look at the record all you want, but that’s a full clubhouse of big-league baseball players. We won four games. We could have easily come in here and not shown up and lost these games.

“To be the team we want to be you’ve got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat. I think we did a good job of that.”

The Twins hit into some tough luck in the early innings against starter Michael Soroka. But that changed in the sixth when Julien led off the inning with a home run. When Jeffers matched it, the game was tied and Soroka’s day was done.

The Twins took the lead before the inning was over, with Willi Castro delivering an RBI single.

Julien hit a solo homer in the seventh before Santana and Miranda went back to back in the eighth.

“The homers are huge, there’s no way around it,” Baldelli said. “But you don’t hit homers by going up there swinging big and trying to hit homers. Our guys weren’t doing that. They just tried to barrel some balls up and they left the yard.”

Julien, who said he is feeling good at the plate after a slow start, does not think his power surge is something that necessarily will continue.

“I feel like there are times I am going to hit four in one week and other times where I’m not going to hit homers,” he said. “For me, I’m more of a complete hitter than a power hitter. My goal is to just get on base and help the team win.”

Woods Richardson was pleased with his effort on a day he had less than his best stuff.

“I didn’t feel I had everything, but that’s OK,” he said. “You’re going to have games like that. What you can piece together with what you’ve got is kind of where I was at. Just trying to compete.”

Offered Jeffers: “He did a good job of keeping us in the game. He was in attack mode and stayed in attack mode. That’s all we can ask of him.”

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Annandale, Minn., offensive lineman Logan Purcell has decided  to leave the Gophers football program and enter the NCAA transfer portal, he said Thursday.

Purcell, a 6-foot-7 and 300-pound tackle, played in one game during the 2022 season, but none last season, and was not among the two-deep coming out of spring practices that finished Tuesday.

The redshirt freshman was in his third year at Minnesota and his exit will open up a scholarship for another incoming player.

Five players have left P.J. Fleck’s program this month, three of them offensive linemen. Four outside players have joined the U via the portal in that time frame.

Transfer portal tracker

Incoming: WR Tyler Williams (Georgia); QB Dylan Wittke (Virginia Tech); DE Adam Kissayi (Clemson); DE Jaxon Howard (LSU),

Outgoing players (New school)

Outgoing: OL Logan Purcell; CB Victor Pless; OL Cade McConnell (Vanderbilt); OL De’Eric Mister; CB Tariq Watson.

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Woodbury Democratic-Farmer-Labor Sen. Nicole Mitchell says she won’t resign as she faces a felony burglary charge after allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home earlier this week.

Nicole Lynn Mitchell mug shot. (Becker County Jail)

Mitchell, 49, announced her intention to remain in office Thursday as a bipartisan Senate ethics panel started moving forward with an investigation of the senator, who is accused of breaking into a Detroit Lakes home in the early Monday.

Mitchell denies she had entered the home to steal anything and has issued statements contradicting the allegations in a criminal complaint filed in Becker County District Court. In that complaint, Mitchell is alleged to have told police she entered the home through a basement window and that she knew “she did something bad.”

Statement from Mitchell

In a statement issued through her attorneys, Mitchell said she was “extremely disappointed” the criminal complaint filed against her Tuesday didn’t include “complete information,” such as that she knew her stepmother since she was four years old and cared for her wellbeing.

“It saddens me that some people are attempting to use a tragic family situation to score political points,” she said. “I am confident that a much different picture will emerge when all of the facts are known.”

Mitchell was released from jail after being formally charged on Tuesday with first-degree burglary. As part of her conditions of release, she’s not allowed to contact her stepmother, who also obtained a restraining order against Mitchell. She’s next scheduled to appear in court in June.

Already, Mitchell’s absence from the Senate has delayed two days of voting on bills as the legislature closes in on the end of session on May 20. The DFL has 34 seats in the Senate to the GOP’s 33, meaning the absence of just one senator means partisan bills can’t move forward.

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she will consider allowing Mitchell to vote remotely for the rest of the session. In a Thursday statement, Murphy said the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct is working with Mitchell and moving forward with setting a hearing date in the next 30 days.

Senate Republicans, who unsuccessfully pushed Wednesday to accelerate the ethics investigation process, said they’re prepared to whatever is needed to resolve the investigation as soon as possible.

“Moving expeditiously with a hearing and a determination ensures the Senate maintains the highest levels of integrity in its service to Minnesotans” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks.

Mitchell is a first-term state senator elected in 2022. Mitchell worked as a meteorologist with the U.S. military and for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio before she was elected to the Senate. She still serves as lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, commanding a weather unit..

She represents Senate District 47, which includes Woodbury and southern parts of Maplewood.

Alleged burglary

It’s still not exactly clear what happened Monday morning at Mitchell’s stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home, but police responded to a 911 call about a break-in at the house at around 4:45 a.m. and found the senator in the basement, according to charging documents.

In a 911 call transcript released by the Becker County Sheriff’s office, the caller, Mitchell’s stepmother, told police she had “tripped over” a person on the floor next to her bed, who then ran into the basement.

That conflicts with statements Mitchell made to officers detailed in her charging documents. In the charges, she allegedly admitted to entering her stepmother’s home through a basement window, where she had left a backpack containing her drivers’ license, two laptop computers and a cell phone.

The senator was dressed in all-black clothing and was wearing a black hat, charges said.

Mitchell denied she was there to steal anything, and in a public statement said she was checking in on her stepmother.

Burglary charge

The senator now faces a first-degree burglary charge, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of six months in jail, and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Mitchell’s burglary charge comes a little more than a year after the death of her father. In January, a judge awarded her stepmother 100% of the father’s $172,931 estate.

In a post on Facebook, Mitchell said she was checking on her stepmother and denied stealing anything. She said she had visited the home “countless times” over the last 20 years, and that her son had a room there at one point.

Her attorney Bruce Ringstrom Sr. said his client made a “poor choice” in how she handled her concerns, but did so while under a lot of stress.

“She was dealing with a tough family situation and it exploded on her,” he said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the stepmother said she is afraid of Mitchell. Most of her husband’s ashes were buried, she told the AP, but she sent Mitchell a small container.

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