The St. Paul Saints trailed by five runs after three innings but made up the entire deficit and grabbed the lead for good in the fourth inning of their 8-5 win over the Louisville Bats on Wednesday night at CHS Field. One night after squandering a five-run lead to the Bats in a 7-5 loss, the Saints trailed 5-0 entering the bottom of the fourth. Bats pitcher Carson Spiers retired the first two Saints batters of the inning but ran into control problems, and the next 10 reached base and six scored runs. Anthony Prato started the rally when he was hit by a pitch, and Diego Castillo followed with a ..read more

CHICAGO — Byron Buxton took off for second base three times during Trevor Larnach’s second-inning at-bat. The last time, his run turned into a jog and he was thrown out easily at second base. That jog then turned into a ginger walk to the dugout, where the Twins center fielder was met by a team trainer and manager Rocco Baldelli. The Twins soon announced that Buxton had left the game with soreness in his right knee, the same knee that he has had surgically repaired in each of the past two offseasons. Buxton, through a team spokesperson, declined to comment, but Baldelli said the Twins pla ..read more

CHICAGO — There’s a feeling around the Twins these days, one that didn’t seem to be there a couple weeks ago. It’s a confidence that no matter the situation, somehow, some way, they will find a path to victory. That’s the kind of swagger that comes when a team is on a 10-game winning streak, as the Twins are after rallying Wednesday afternoon Chicago to beat the White Sox 10-5 at Guaranteed Rate Field. It’s just the eighth time in club history that the team has extended a winning streak into double digits. “It’s one of those things where you get to really identify what momentum feels like and ..read more

CHICAGO — The Twins are the hottest team in baseball, so it’s a time where more and more fans are hoping to tune in. And yet, less and less are able to see their team play on TV. Starting Wednesday, Comcast subscribers were no longer able watch any of the Bally Sports Regional Networks, affecting not just Twins fans but sports fans across the country. That’s because Comcast and Diamond Sports Group, which owns the Bally RSNs, were unable to reach a new carriage agreement by a Tuesday deadline. Bally Sports North logo “The Twins are disappointed by this massive disruption for our fans, who simp ..read more

CHICAGO — It seems as if there’s been a new hero every night of the Twins’ lengthy winning streak — a sign that they’re getting contributions from up and down the roster. But on Tuesday, they went back to a formula that worked the night before: Byron Buxton gets on, Max Kepler brings him home. For the second night in a row, Kepler drove in Buxton in the ninth inning — this time with a sacrifice fly — to lift Minnesota to victory. The 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field was the Twins’ ninth straight, the first time the club has accomplished that feat since 2008. “I feel ..read more

CHICAGO — Jhoan Duran frequently described his time spent rehabbing over the past month-plus as “boring.” The Twins reliever was forced off the field for the first month of the season by an oblique strain that he suffered during spring training. But, finally, the Twins activated him from the injured list on Tuesday, which should provide a cure for his boredom. Minnesota’s bullpen has been a strength during the first month of the season — it entered Tuesday’s game with a 2.54 earned-run average, which was third in the majors — and that was without one of the best relievers on the planet. “Our b ..read more

David Festa tied the Saints’ single-game record with 10 strikeouts and pitched into the fifth inning for the first time at the Triple-A level, but St. Paul fell to Louisville on Tuesday, 7-5, in front of 4,636 at CHS Field. Patrick Winkel hit a grand slam in the Saints’ five-run first inning, but Louisville right-hander Lyon Richardson followed with four scoreless innings and five bats relievers combined to shut out St. Paul for the final four innings. Right-hander Brooks Kriske (3-0) pitched two-thirds of the sixth inning, fanning one, to earn the win. Festa, the Twins’ fifth-rated prospect a ..read more

CHICAGO >> The funereal atmosphere that permeated the Twins’ clubhouse after losses earlier this month is long gone. It’s been replaced by players and coaches dancing to music that’s cranked up as loud as it can go, cracking jokes and enjoying each other’s company. Instead of answering questions about why they only pushed across a run or two, the new talking point is a summer sausage, which has become their good-luck charm in recent days and has caught the attention of baseball fans across the country. It’s the type of fun that comes along with an extended winning streak, one which conti ..read more

CHICAGO >> The Twins landed in Chicago on Sunday night riding high and on a seven-game winning streak that has turned their season around dramatically. Things got even better for them on Monday when they got their star shortstop back from the injured list. Carlos Correa had been among their most productive hitters when he strained his right intercostal muscle on April 12 in Detroit. The injury kept him out the past 16 games, but the Twins rallied and managed to pull themselves out of a hole and above .500 despite his absence. “The team is rolling,” Correa said. “They’re playing great so ..read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. >> Kyle Farmer didn’t think much of it when he left a tangy summer sausage that he received as a gift from Cloverdale, whom he did an advertisement for last year, on a table in the Twins’ clubhouse. Maybe a hungry teammate would grab it and have a nice snack. Instead, it seems as if that sausage has turned into a good-luck charm for the Twins, who have turned their season around with seven straight wins and now make sure to tap the sausage before they head to the plate. “Maybe it’s because of the sausage that it’s all happening in the first place,” manager Rocco Baldelli ..read more