It’s been nearly a full year since Danny Coulombe has given up a run. Just don’t tell him that.

“There’s some things that are not talked about, you know?” Coulombe said.

And this is one of them, though that stat might be somewhat misleading. Coulombe did miss much of the summer last year, recovering from surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. That still doesn’t take away from the fact that the veteran reliever has been awfully impressive in his return to Minnesota.

Coulombe, 35, has made 17 appearances this year, all of them scoreless. As the only southpaw in the Twins’ bullpen, he’s often tasked with facing tough lefties. Friday, with Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax each having pitched the night before, he came out for his second save of the year, and needed only nine pitches — eight of them strikes — to get it.

“Danny’s been as good as you can be,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You really can’t do it much better than what he’s doing.”

No, you can’t.

Coulombe has thrown 15⅓ scoreless innings. He has struck out 17, walked just one and boasts a 0.522 WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched). His scoreless streak stretches even further than that. He last gave up a run on May 26, 2024. His 25⅓ scoreless-inning streak is the longest active one in the majors.

“(He’s) one of the better lefties in the whole game, so he’s a big addition to our bullpen,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Having that lefty who can get righties and lefties out at a really good clip, he’s going to be a staple of our bullpen all year.”

Coulombe has been tough on righties (they’re slashing .143/.172/.214 against him) and even better against lefties (.120/.120/.120) in his second stint with the Twins.

The lefty pitched for the Twins between 2020-22 and returned as a minor league free agent in 2023, fighting to make the roster in spring training. Since the Twins did not plan to carry him, he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract, going to the Baltimore Orioles, where he posted a 2.81 earned-run average in his first year, and a 2.12 ERA last year.

And though last year was disrupted by a surgery, he finished the season healthy and has kept going from there.

“I feel like I’m the same pitcher I was last year,” he said. “Rocco and the staff have done a really good job putting me in situations that are conducive for me and my skillset.”

Wallner progressing

Matt Wallner had never had a hamstring injury, so he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from his magnetic resonance imaging results. He did know one thing: “I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to come out good,” the right fielder said.

Wallner was diagnosed with a moderate-to-severe hamstring strain and while he still isn’t nearing a return, he has been making progress since being placed on the injured list on April 17. He has been able to hit and do other baseball activities throughout the process, and has started running at 100 percent. On Friday, he tried turning while running for the first time.

“I don’t know what that means,” Wallner said. “I’ve never done it before but it should be good, I would think.”

Briefly

Reliever Michael Tonkin, out with a shoulder strain, suffered a setback on his rehab assignment. Tonkin, who was in the Twins’ clubhouse on Saturday, has made six rehab appearances thus far. … The Twins will finish out their homestand on Sunday with Pablo López on the mound facing off against righty Landen Roupp.

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A perfect storm hit on a picturesque Saturday at Allianz Field.

Minnesota United supporters saw their team win while also witnessing a goal from one of the greatest players of all time in a 4-1 victory on a sunny early-summer day.

Lionel Messi’s goal — which won’t make any of his career highlight reels — gave Loons fans a thrill (and a scare) when he slotted in a shot to cut MNUFC’s lead to 2-1 in the 48th minute.

MNUFC (6-2-4, 22 points) went on to nullify the threat with two more goals and hand Miami (6-2-3, 21 points) only its second loss on the season.

Saturday’s sold-out crowd of 19,710, according to the club, fell short of the Allianz Field record of 19,954 for LAFC in July 2023. The crowd looked like a gender reveal party, with Minnesota’s baby blue vastly outnumbering pink Messi shirts.

Instead of Messi, two first-half goals came from unlikely sources: Minnesota’s wingbacks.

Bongi Hlongwane scored first with a tidy right-footed finish in the 32nd minute. Joaquín Pereyra and Carlos Harvey set up the South African for his first goal of 2025.

Then Anthony Markanich’s header made it 2-0 just before halftime. Michael Boxall’s long throw-in and Nicolas Romero’s flick-on header created the chance for Markanich to score in consecutive MLS games.

Messi got his goal for the thousands in the stands wearing his jersey. He had an easy finish in front of Jefferson Diaz in the 48th minute.

The pressure on Minnesota eased with an own goal from Marcelo Weigandt and a goal from Robin Lod that made it 4-1 in the 68th and 70th minutes.

Three tidbits

Miami, and especially Messi, missed striker Luis Suarez, who was absent for personal reasons Saturday. Suarez, who first played with Messi at Barcelona, has been tied for the MLS lead with six assists.  … A handful of Minnesota’s star athletes turned out to see Messi in Minnesota, including the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison, the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and Taylor Heise from the Frost. … The Wonderwall’s pre-match tifo banner took a shot at the elitism perceived at Inter Miami with the message: “History over hype. Culture over cash.”

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Julius Randle was a bit of a mess to open the second half of Game 2 against Golden State on Thursday in Minneapolis. The forward committed two turnovers, missed a 3-point attempt and failed to get back in transition in a three-plus minute stretch that helped the Warriors get back into the game.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch gave Randle a quick hook, sending the forward to the bench for the next two minutes of action, much to Randle’s dismay — which was evident in the veteran’s body language.

“I just had to get that out. I had to get that out. For me, (it was) like being frustrated,” Randle said. “Obviously, (Finch) was frustrated to start the quarter, myself personally, with two turnovers and whatever was going on with our team. Me being a competitor, I want to stay out there, and right the ship. But it didn’t necessarily go like that.

“I was a little hot, but for me personally, that’s just another way he challenges me.”

Finch said he just wanted Randle to “settle down and play.” The time on the bench was brief. Randle spent it thinking about how he wanted to channel his frustrations into something positive for the Wolves, and it exactly what occurred.

Randle came back in and took over the contest, tallying six assists over the final six-plus minutes of the quarter to help Minnesota gain a 20-point advantage by frame’s end in a a runaway victory to square up the series.

“Give him a minute to think about things, regroup,” Finch said. “And he came back in and was awesome.”

It was another proper button pushed by the man at the controls. Fans often belabor Finch’s usage of timeouts, or lack thereof, but there is little to question re: his player management.

Finch publicly called out Anthony Edwards’ approach after Minnesota’s Game 1 loss to open the series.

“You’re the leader of the team. You’ve got to come out and set the tone,” Finch said. “If your shot is not going, you still have to carry the energy. If I’ve got to talk to guys about having the right energy coming into an opening, second-round game, then we’re not on the same page.”

That quote caught the eyes of national onlookers, but it’s consistent with the tone Finch has set within the organization since his arrival in 2021. No one is immune to his criticism if the coach doesn’t feel the players are meeting the standard, from Edwards on down. Mike Conley noted Finch “challenges every single guy” in film sessions.

“Nobody’s exempt from that,” Conley said. “Guys respond.”

For evidence, look no further than Minnesota’s playoff performances this spring. The Wolves have delivered two stinkers, in Game 2 against the Lakers and in Game 1 of the conference semifinals last Tuesday. Each loss has been followed by significantly better basketball.

After getting rolled by the Warriors — without leader Stephen Curry for most of the game — Finch “cussed us out pretty well. He was unhappy, and he let us know he was unhappy, and we felt that,” Randle said after Thursday’s Game 2 victory,

“We were pretty motivated as a team,” he said Thursday. “The thing I like about Finch is personally, for myself, he can coach me hard. I might not like it in the moment or whatever it is, but I love that he can challenge me like that. Other day we’re in the film room, he challenged me multiple times on things that he saw from an effort standpoint.

“I wanted to make a point to come out and play with a high amount of energy, a high amount of effort, and respond to that challenge, not really necessarily take it personally.”

That stems from the relationships Finch makes sure to build with his players. Randle can be called out by Finch when he errs because he knows that, ultimately, his coach has his back. No one praised Randle more profusely, unprompted, for his performance in the first-round series against the Lakers than Finch.

“Another guy who’s had a lot of unfair criticism in his career, and he was outstanding on both ends of the floor,” Finch said after Minnesota’s series-clinching victory. “We don’t win this series without him.”

That didn’t go unnoticed by Randle.

“That’s my guy,” Randle said. “I told y’all from the very beginning when I got traded here. Obviously, new team, new teammates, but the No. 1 thing I was excited for was being able to come back and play for Finch. It’s been everything and more, just his trust and belief in me, the ability to adjust throughout the season.

“We don’t necessarily have the prototypical roster or whatever, but he finds a way to put everybody in positions of strength. His ability to do that and trust me throughout the year is huge. I’ve had a great time playing for him.”

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The disappointment of not being selected in the 2025 NFL draft didn’t last long for former Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer.

As much as he would’ve loved to hear his name called last month, Brosmer suddenly had some options that he wouldn’t have had otherwise.

There was a large part of him that was hoping to stay in Minnesota after taking a predraft visit with the Vikings. So when it came to where he was going to sign as an undrafted free agent, it was a pretty easy decision for him.

“We talk about people making organizations,” Brosmer said. “The people here make this organization special.”

Those comments from Brosmer came on Friday afternoon at TCO Performance Center after he wrapped up practice.

The arm talent that allowed Brosmer to complete 268 of 403 passes for 2,828 yards and 18 touchdowns last season with the Gophers was on display as he took the field for the first time with the Vikings.

There were highs and lows from Brosmer across roughly 90 minutes of action, including some perfectly placed throws along the sideline, as well as a couple of interceptions that he’d like to have back.

All the while, Brosmer appreciated getting to learn from head coach Kevin O’Connell, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, and assistant quarterbacks coach Jordan Traylor.

“Every time we had a positive play or a negative play it was always, like, ‘Hey let’s talk about it for a second,’” Brosmer said. “I didn’t realize there were screens out here replaying the play right away, so I was, like, ‘That’s awesome.’ I’m always looking forward to going back to the film room and watching it. Now I get to watch it in real time.”

Asked about the process that led him to this point, Brosmer smiled, saying, “It’s been absolutely insane.” He added that he couldn’t be happier with how it all worked out for him, saying, “I look at it like things are supposed to happen for a reason.”

That’s the prism through which Brosmer has always tried to look at his path.

There’s a reason his family moved from Davenport, Iowa to Roswell, Georgia when he was a teenager. There’s a reason he committed to New Hampshire despite not knowing much about the area at the time. There’s a reason he ended up transferring to the Gophers after proving himself at the FCS level.

How about now?

“There’s a reason I’m here,” Brosmer said. “It all unfolded the way it should.”

It isn’t lost on Brosmer that it will be an uphill climb for him to stick with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

That said, Brosmer is grateful for the opportunity, and he’s excited to get to work with a position group that includes presumed starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, presumed backup quarterback Sam Howell, and reserve quarterback Brett Rypien.

“The people are absolutely incredible,” Brosmer said. “I can’t wait to find out what my journey looks like along my path here.”

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