A lot went wrong in the Twins’ first 22 games, a run that saw them leave Atlanta 20 days ago after being swept to put them a season-low eight games under .500.

A lot has gone right for the Twins since then.

They started it by taking care of business against two of the worst teams in the American League, winning five of six games on their last homestand. A blip in Cleveland and Boston was followed by a seven-game winning streak that has pulled the Twins back to .500 for the first time since Opening Day.

The Twins got there by beating the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Saturday night at Target Field, getting a strong performance from Joe Ryan — who dealt with a violent illness earlier this week — a few more scoreless innings from their bullpen — which has been stellar on this run — a key defensive play and just enough offense.

A matchup between Ryan and Logan Webb had the potential of a pitchers’ duel and the two starters didn’t disappoint.

Ryan, whose start was pushed back from Thursday to Saturday after he vomited an estimated 20-30 times on Monday, didn’t show signs of physical strain. He threw six strong innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits; one — a Heliot Ramos home run — left the park.

Webb was just as tough on the Twins, the only difference being that the one pitch he threw that left the park was a two-run home run, rather than a solo shot. Trevor Larnach’s sixth home run of the season, which came in the third inning, was the only offense the Twins would muster on the day.

And yet, it was enough.

Griffin Jax followed Ryan into the game, throwing a scoreless seventh. He made way for Cole Sands, who gave up a double to lead off the eighth. But it wouldn’t come around to hurt the Twins thanks to catcher Christian Vázquez, who, after Ramos advanced to third, made an absolutely perfect throw to third baseman Royce Lewis to pick him off.

After receiving a high pitch from Sands, Vázquez fired the ball, leading Lewis to the perfect position to nab Ramos.

An inning later, Jhoan Duran induced a huge double play before getting Willy Adames to look at strike three to seal the win.

Worth noting

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected from the game in the sixth inning after objecting to a pitch that was called a ball on Carlos Correa, firing off his hat after an animated argument with home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.

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The Gophers men’s basketball program picked up an in-state commitment as its first pledge in the 2026 class on Saturday.

Cedric Tomes, a 6-foot guard from East Ridge High School, chose to stay home at the U over offers from Iowa State, Oklahoma, Drake, Northern Iowa and Bryant. A three-star recruit, Tomes averaged 27.3 points and made more than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts last season.

Tomes was offered a scholarship under former coach Ben Johnson and that offer remained under new coach Niko Medved. Assistant coach Dave Thorson was recruiting Tomes under both head coaches.

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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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