David Festa, the top pitching prospect in the Twins’ organization, got the start on Sunday at CHS Field looking to build on his best start as a member of the Saints.

Things did not go as well as the 24-year-old had hoped, but he was not discouraged after taking the loss in the Saints’ 7-6 loss to the Louisville Bats.

Festa, who tied a team record in his last start when he struck out 10, picked up eight strikeouts on Sunday but allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings, including a pair of home runs.

“I felt like it came down to a couple pitches,” the New Jersey native said. “I had eight strikeouts. I thought the fastball velocity was the best it’s been all year. Made a couple of pitches they took advantage of, and that’s kind of just baseball.”

St. Paul’s loss came after back-to-back wins for the first time since April 5-6.

After allowing a solo home run in the second inning, Festa was touched for three runs on five hits in the third. The Saints tied the game with a four-run third, but Festa’s day was done when he gave up a one-out home run in the fourth.

Festa has made a rapid rise within the organization since being selected in the 13th round in the 2021 draft out of Seton Hall. He is currently the No. 5 prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.

Festa made 19 starts at Double-A Wichita last season, going 3-3 with an ERA of 4.39. He finished the season with the Saints, going 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA.

“The recognition is great, but in reality all that matters is what I do in between the lines,” Festa said. “It doesn’t impact what I do on a day-to-day basis. I wasn’t a high draft pick and I kind of went under the radar in college.

“I don’t lack motivation. I know nothing was really handed to me — ever. I take that mentality everyday, from the day I signed with the Twins up until now. My mentality hasn’t changed.”

Two things have changed — and for the better. First, the velocity on his fastball has jumped from the low 90s in college to the 95-97 mph range. The increase coincided with his joining the organization.

“I think it’s a credit to the people around me, the coaches and the personnel,” Festa said. “I think the Twins do a really good job of developing players, as you see throughout our minor leagues.

“And a lot of later picks like me have done really well. I’m really happy to be in this organization.”

The second change has to do with the 6-foot-6 Festa’s physical makeup. His major goal during the offseason was to add weight and strength, and he came into the season at 195 pounds, 10 more than last season.

Festa said he did it by eating right, working out and drinking plenty of protein shakes, a formula that continues into the season.

“I tried to do a lot of high-volume workouts this offseason to try to build my stamina and my ability to recover,” he said. “And, ultimately, build some muscle mass. I’m a tall, lean guy, so I get super sore after outings.

“With the 10 pounds, I feel like I’ve recovered a lot better. This was the first time I’ve thrown on five days (rest) in a long time, and my body felt great. To know that my body is in a good spot, I know I’m heading in the right direction.”

Briefly

Matt Wallner’s home run streak ended at three consecutive games, but he had two hits to raise his average to .230.

Relief pitcher Justin Topa, on rehab assignment from the Twins, pitched at scoreless sixth.

Last month, Willi Castro was the Twins’ third baseman. Last week, he was their starting shortstop. This week, he’s their center fielder. Over the course of the last few games, he’s also been at third base and in left field, too.

It’s nothing new for the Twins do-it-all utilityman, who not only has shown the value of his versatility over the past couple weeks, but has also been at his best at the plate.

Castro entered Sunday on a 10-game hitting streak, the longest of his career. That streak was snapped during the Twins’ 9-2 loss to the Red Sox on Sunday, but over that stretch, he was hitting .465 with 20 hits, including nine for extra bases. In the process, he raised his batting average on the season by 100 points.

“I started off a little late. I was a little lost,” Castro said. “But I always start off like that every year. It’s a long season. I never keep my head down. I keep working with the same routine when I’m doing bad or good. I know the kind of player that I am.”

And that kind of player is an extremely valuable one for the Twins.

When Royce Lewis went down with a quadriceps strain during the first game of the season, Castro was relied upon heavily to fill in at third base.

When Carlos Correa strained his intercostal, Castro shifted over to shortstop, where he was entrusted to start most of the games in Correa’s absence.

And now that Byron Buxton is on the injured list with right knee inflammation, much of Castro’s time is coming in the outfield now.

“I prepared myself for this when I first started playing all the positions,” Castro said. “That was really tough at first because I didn’t get the hang of it so fast. But when I was going every day out there, just mixing up the positions, doing a lot of reps everywhere, I started feeling more comfortable. Right now, at this point, I feel really good. Everywhere I can play and they’re going to put me, I feel good.”

That goes for at the plate and on the basepaths, too, where Castro excels and wreaks havoc.

“Willi’s been exceptional for us,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s taken advantage of all his opportunities. … He’s done a ton for this organization and we still have him for a while, too. He’s a fun guy to watch play and a guy you love having on your team.”

Original sausage retired

Baldelli first expressed his concern that the Twins’ rally sausage, a piece of encased meat that Kyle Farmer left on a table in the clubhouse and hitting coach David Popkins brought into the dugout on April 25, was hazardous a week ago.

But the Twins were determined to stick with their good-luck charm through the course of their winning streak. With it now over, the original summer sausage has now been retired.

“It might be in the trash by now. Honestly, where it belongs,” Baldelli said. “We can always get a new one, which I think we have a box of them somewhere. The guys throwing sausage around will be ready to go. Trust me. They’ll still have them and be ready.”

Briefly

The Twins will welcome the Seattle Mariners in town for a four-game series beginning on Monday. That series will feature the return of long-time Twin Jorge Polanco, who was sent to Seattle in a trade this January. … Justin Topa, acquired as part of the Polanco trade, threw an inning for the St. Paul Saints on Sunday as he rehabs from a knee injury. In his fourth rehab outing, he threw a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and striking out one batter.

After 12 wins — and with some help from one good-luck summer sausage — the streak has finally met its end.

Over the course of the winning streak, the Twins revitalized their season, pulling themselves from six games under .500 to six over. They got lucky, at times, and created their own luck by stringing together good at-bats and making things happen.

Everyone was contributing and wins felt inevitable.

However, the Twins knew it was going to end someday and that day was Sunday. The Twins fell 9-2 to the Boston Red Sox in the series finale at Target Field. The 12-game winning streak was tied for the second-longest in club history with the 1980 group, behind just the 1991 World Series-winning team that won 15 straight.

“I think we invigorated ourselves by playing well,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The way we’ve come back from the start, which wasn’t a great start, the way we came back from that shows character. It’s something that you’re really looking for in your group. We have great leadership in our clubhouse. The guys never really wavered and we ended up playing some really great baseball for a couple weeks.”

While the Twins’ (19-14) winning streak was characterized by the offense finally breaking out after a collective slumber to begin the year, there wasn’t a ton of it to speak of on Sunday.

The Twins had a prime opportunity to break the game open in the second inning with three straight singles off Red Sox (19-16) starter Cooper Criswell, but they were unable to convert on their bases-loaded opportunity, striking out twice before Jose Miranda sent a little dribbler back to Criswell for the final out.

It was their best chance of the game, one in which they finished 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

“It did feel like every time an opportunity arose in the past 12 games, it felt like we were always coming through,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “Today was just one of those days that we were not able to do that.”

The Twins struck first in the third inning when Ryan Jeffers planted his sixth home run of the season behind the wall in left-center field. It gave them a lead they held just briefly.

Starter Joe Ryan, who was perfect through the first three innings, allowed a double to Jarren Duran to lead off the fourth and then later a hard-hit ball that ticked off Correa’s glove into left field, allowing Duran to score.

An inning later, Ceddanne Rafaela connected on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, a fastball from Ryan that he sent out for a two-run homer. Ryan said he was trying to locate that pitch higher than he was able to.

The Red Sox pulled away with four more runs in the eighth, putting the Twins in a hole that not even the rally sausage — which Baldelli said would be retired in favor of a new one — could help them recover from.

“It was special. Gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” Correa said of the winning streak. “We knew it wasn’t going to last forever. … We were very consistent for a long time. Hopefully, we can start a new one tomorrow and just keep on with the approach, keep up with the same discipline, keep up with the same work and same mentality.”