The results may not have been there in his last start — he gave up seven runs to the New York Yankees — but Chris Paddack was adamant that his stuff was.

His velocity had crept up after working on some mechanical tweaks, particularly with his lower half, and Paddack was excited about the changes.

Monday, the stuff was up once again, and this time, the results followed. Paddack took a scoreless outing into the seventh inning in the Twins’ 5-0 win over the Colorado Rockies in the series opener at Target Field.

Paddack’s velocity touched 97.6 mph on a first-inning strikeout of Ryan McMahon, a good indicator of what was to come. His fastball velocity averaged 95.2, nearly two mph harder than his average this season.

And the Rockies (23-43) could do little against him all night.

Though his night started by allowing a pair of hits, a double play helped him emerge from the first inning unscored upon. He allowed four more hits — six total — but no baserunner advanced past first base after the first inning.

Paddack was curveball heavy, throwing the pitch that is normally his fourth-most used pitch, more than his slider and changeup. He got five of his 13 swinging strikes on it.

Paddack threw 6⅓ innings before making way for Steven Okert, who retired the final two batters of the seventh. Griffin Jax followed with a dominant, three-strikeout eighth before Minnesota, which had been playing with a lead for much of the night, broke the game open.

The Twins, who scored earlier on Christian Vázquez’s sacrifice fly that followed a Manuel Margot double, and a Carlos Correa RBI double, put up three runs in the eighth.

Vázquez led off with a double and eventually came around to score on a Trevor Larnach sacrifice fly. Just a few batters later, Royce Lewis, in his Target  Field season debut, crushed a curveball left over the heart of the plate to push the game out of reach.

Minnesota Twins’ Royce Lewis gestures while running the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Monday, June 10, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Twins’ Manuel Margot slides into third base after hitting a double during the third inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Monday, June 10, 2024, in Minneapolis. Margot advanced to third base after a throwing error by Rockies right fielder Hunter Goodman. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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Former state Sen. Ray Vandeveer, a Minnesota lawmaker from Forest Lake who served nearly 15 years in the state Legislature, has died at 70.

Vandeveer, a Republican who represented a northeast metro district that included Washington and parts of Anoka counties and cities including Forest Lake and Stillwater, served in the House and Senate from 1998 to 2012. He died on May 11 surrounded by family, according to an obituary posted online.

State Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, in his Senate photo for his second term, which started in Jan. 2011. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate Photographer’s Office)

“Ray’s legacy of public service and community involvement will be fondly remembered,” the obituary said.

Outside the Legislature, Vandeveer had a real estate appraisal business for more than 30 years. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2000, according to an Associated Press report, and decided not to run for reelection in 2012 due to health concerns.

In his final year in office, Vandeveer said he was proud of his efforts with fellow Republicans to cut state spending. His party took the majority in the Senate in 2011 and reduced a $5 billion deficit.

“I worked very hard to protect our personal freedoms and slow down the expansion of government,” he told the Pioneer Press at the time.

When Vandeveer announced his plan to leave the Legislature, now-Sen. Karin Housley filed to run for his seat, one she has served in ever since.

Vandeveer was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in a 1998 special election. He served in that chamber for nearly nine years, eventually becoming the chairman of the Subcommittee on Property and Local Tax Division.

He was elected to the Senate in 2006, and served as chairman of the Local Government and Elections Committee when Republicans took the majority in 2011.

Besides serving as a legislator, Vandeveer was on the Forest Lake Planning Commission, the Mounds View Charter Commission, and as a volunteer probation officer for Anoka County, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

Vandeveer is survived by his wife, Camille, four children, a grandchild and four siblings.

A memorial event is scheduled for Sunday, June 23.

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