The last time Christian MacLeod was in the Twin Cities, he was nothing more than a tourist making the drive up from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with his fiancé during last year’s All-Star break.

He enjoyed the sites, and couldn’t help but dream about making it his permanent baseball home. Sunday afternoon at CHS Field it became more of a reality for the left-handed starter, who made his Triple-A debut with the Saints in a 6-5 loss to the Columbus Clippers.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound MacLeod, a fifth-round pick by the Twins in the 2021 draft out of Mississippi State, began the season at Class-A Cedar Rapids before being promoted to Double-A Wichita in July.

The 24-year-old Alabama native pitched five innings on Sunday, allowing five runs — four earned — on six hits. He walked one and struck out five.

“I think it went all right,” MacLeod said. “I made a few mistakes that I wish I could have back, but overall I just wanted to go out and compete and give us a chance to win. Again, a few pitches, a few plays I would like to have back but that’s all a part of it.

“Getting my feet wet was really important, and take it into next week.”

MacLeod’s dad, Kevin, was a 10th round draft pick by the Oakland A’s in 1987 as a left-handed pitcher and reached as high as Double-A. When the younger MacLeod found out on Thursday that he would be going up and starting the game on Sunday, he was excited to share the news with his dad.

“He was super pumped,” MacLeod said. “He was joking with me that he made it to Double-A, so he was like, ‘You beat me.’ But yeah, he’s been a big part of my career. I owe a lot to him.”

MacLeod’s fastball was around 89 miles per hour on Sunday. He said it ’s been “down a tick” of late, with it usually topping out at 92. Regardless, he relies on off-speed pitches to keep hitters off balance.

“My dad was a low-90s lefty, too,” MacLeod said. “He had the big curveball like I do.”

MacLeod missed the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He was injured after reporting to early camp in Fort Myers in January. It was a jolt to his system as he prepared for his first pro season. He bounced back with a 5-2 record in 16 starts last season and was a combined 3-3 in 12 starts this season before his start on Sunday.

MacLeod (0-1) gave up a two-run home run in the first inning but came back to strike out the side in the second.

The Clippers scored three runs in the fourth. Following a one-out single, MacLeod fielded a softly hit ball in front of the plate but threw wildly to first, putting runners on second and third. MacLeod retired the next batter before surrendering a two-run double.

The Clippers pushed another run across on a bunt single.

The Saints tied the game in their half of the first on second baseman Edouard Julien’s two-run home run, which extended his on-base streak to 36 games.

A two-run homer by Anthony Prato in the fifth cut the Saints’ deficit to 5-4. The Clippers added a run in the seventh on a solo home run off Ronny Henriquez.

The Saints pulled to within 6-5 in the eight inning on a solo home run by Chris Williams. Williams’ homer was the 44th of his Saints career, a franchise record.

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After starting their biggest series of the season with a doubleheader sweep of first-place Cleveland, and with a chance to win three of four after Saturday’s loss against the American League Central division leaders, the Twins wound up right where they started the weekend — 3 1/2 games back — following Sunday’s 5-3 loss.

The Twins loaded the bases with none out against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth on Sunday, but Willi Castro struck out swinging and Trevor Larnach grounded into a double play to end the game.

Guardians All-Stars Jose Ramirez and David Fry hit solo home runs, and Cleveland broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning that included three consecutive two-out, run-scoring hits in front of 30,084 at Target Field.

The victory allowed Cleveland to leave town with a road split and the same 3 1/2-game lead over second-place Minnesota it held when the series started. The Twins might not have lost ground, but they needed to more wins, especially with Kansas City breathing down their necks for the third and final AL wild card spot.

The Royals, off Sunday after a two-game interleague series against St. Louis, is now a half-game behind the Twins with the teams set to start a three-game series Monday at Target Field. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.

Byron Buxton supplied all the Twins’ offense, giving them a 1-0 lead with a solo home run off Tanner Bibee (10-4) in the second inning and pulling them within 5-3 with a two-run shot off Nick Sandlin in the eighth.

Bibee allowed six hits but didn’t walk a batter and struck out five in 5 2/3 innings. Clase earned his 35th save.

Twins rookie David Festa, making his sixth major league start, had a short leash. After he gave up a game-tying home run to Ramirez, he was pulled with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth of a 1-1 run game. Jorge Alcala came in and retired the next two batters to keep the game tied, but the bullpen ran into problems in the sixth.

Left-hander Caleb Thielbar gave up a one-out, go-ahead homer to Fry, then walked two before striking out Bo Naylor. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in Cole Sands, but the reliable right-hander was greeted with a broken-bat, RBI single by Brayan Rocchio before giving up an RBI single to leadoff hitter Steven Kwan and an RBI double to Will Brennan to make it 5-1.

Thielbar (2-3) was charged with three earned runs on a hit and two walks while getting just two outs.

The Twins blew through five pitchers, but Randy Dobnak finished the game with three scoreless innings for Minnesota.

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If Chris Paddack had his way, he would successfully rehab from the forearm muscle strain that has sidelined him since July 15 and slot back into the Twins rotation for the final postseason push.

“I haven’t got to experience a starter role in a playoff atmosphere with fans,” Paddack said Sunday.

Paddack has started in a game in the playoffs — for San Diego in 2020, but that was MLB’s COVID season — a forgettable start (six runs on eight hits in 2⅓ innings) with no fans in the stands. “It was cardboard cutouts,” he said.

Last year, Paddack returned from injury to pitch two scoreless innings against the Astros in the AL Division Series, allowing one hit and striking out six in 3⅔ innings. “Probably the most dominant couple innings of my career,” he said.

Paddack just hopes to pitch meaningful games this season, whether it’s as a starter or reliever, for a Twins team that started Sunday 2½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central and a game up on Kansas City for the third wild card spot.

Neither he nor the Twins know what the big right-hander will do if he’s able to return this season.

“He certainly could be a bullpen guy, but I would assume nothing,” manager Rocco Baldelli said before Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Cleveland at Target Field. “It’s yet to be determined, is what it is. More than anything, we need to get Paddy strong and healthy and that’s it. That’s going to be our first focus.”

Paddack, 28, is on the injured list because of pain and fluid buildup in his forearm, but relieved it wasn’t another elbow injury. He already has had the ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm replaced twice. After a three-week layoff, he has played some catch, and on Saturday threw a football. He was scheduled to do some sock drills on Sunday.

It’s a slow process that he hopes will build up the arm enough to pitch at least a few innings in a major league game and, he said, he won’t jeopardize his career — he’s sign through 2025 — to get back this season.

“I feel a hundred percent after taking that time off, but how does that forearm/flexor/pronator respond to testing it a little bit?” he said. “We want to make sure this doesn’t pop up towards the end of our progression and have another setback and it takes me out of position to be able to contribute. That’s the last thing we want.

“Middle of September, end of September, playoffs? I don’t have that date, but this team, this organization knows I’m going to do everything I can to be back — but without cutting any corners.”

The letter of the day is ‘W’

The Twins symbolically retired the letter ‘W’ in honor of the Washington Senators, who moved to Minnesota before the 1961 season. The announcement was made before Sunday’s game in a ceremony honoring the Senators’ 1924 World Series victory.

Twins owner and executive chair Joe Pohlad said the ‘W,’ now on a plaque with the Twins’ 10 retired numbers in left-field foul territory, “is a reminder of our legacy as a charter member of the American League.”

As part of the celebration, the Hall of Fame plaque of former Senators great Walter Johnson was on display at Target Field, where fans could take photos with it. It marked the first time the plaque had left Cooperstown since 1939.

Briefly

Pablo Lopez is scheduled to start the first of a three-game set against Kansas City on Monday at Target Field. After that, it’s TBA and TBA as the Twins scramble to fill the void left by Joe Ryan, on the injured list with a Grade 2 strain in his right shoulder. “We have some things that we need to line up,” Badelli said. … Left-hander Steven Okert returned from the bereavement list on Sunday but was not activated for Sunday’s game.