SAN DIEGO — For the umpteenth time this season, Simeon Woods Richardson provided the Minnesota Twins with a huge pick-me-up.
The Twins were not in a good way on Wednesday afternoon as they entered the finale of their road trip and a tough series against the San Diego Padres. Coming off two excruciating losses in three days, the Twins were flirting with a disastrous end to a road trip that got off to an encouraging start with three straight victories.
Immediately, the Padres tested the Twins’ rookie starter, running his pitch count up in the first inning by working a pair of walks to load the bases. But same as he has all season, Woods Richardson refused to break, making a big pitch to baseball’s hottest rookie to escape the jam.
A few innings later, Minnesota repaid Woods Richardson’s effort by breaking the game wide open.
Austin Martin twice doubled to drive in runs, Edouard Julien had four hits, Willi Castro reached base four times and Matt Wallner blasted a three-run home run as the Twins routed the Padres 11-4 in front of 36,589 at Petco Park. The Twins finished the road trip with a 4-3 record and ended a trying stretch of 14 contests in 13 days with an 8-6 mark. They also gained a game on Cleveland, moving to within 2 1/2 games of the American League Central lead.
“Even the way he walked in the door, I think he truly believes in himself and his ability to get the job done,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Woods Richardson. “I don’t think he ever doubts himself. Shoot, there a lot of good major league players, I’ve been there. You can be a decent player, good player, even, and still doubt yourself from time to time. But when he is on the mound, I think he has utter, total belief that he is going to find a way and he’s just working in his mind to try to find a way to get that out that he needs.”
Pitching with the weight of the Twins’ world on his shoulders isn’t new to Woods Richardson given he entered the team’s starting rotation out of necessity in late April after Louie Varland struggled early.
Still, it’s mid-August, the season is winding down and the Twins were coming off three losses in a row, including a second devastating defeat on Tuesday night in which the bullpen melted down.
Woods Richardson and the Twins were up against it on Wednesday facing the red-hot Padres, winners in 22 of their last 28. Almost immediately, San Diego put Woods Richardson to the test.
“Nobody wants to throw 29 pitches out there,” Woods Richardson said. “You leave your defenders out there, it’s kind of tough to create a rhythm for our guys.”
After the Twins went scoreless in the top of the first, Luis Arraez opened San Diego’s half of the inning with a single. Two outs later, Manny Machado drew a walk. Xander Bogaerts followed by fouling off five two-strike pitches and working a free pass of his own after the 11th offering of the plate appearance.
Woods Richardson’s second walk brought up rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill, who was batting .327/.351/.644 with five homers and 23 RBIs during his team’s 22-6 stretch. Two pitches later, Woods Richardson was back in the dugout after Merrill flew out to center.
“The main focus is quality baseball,” Woods Richardson said. “Every out counts. Every pitch counts. Every AB counts. … It’s starting to get to that point where we’re playing for something. We’ve always played for something, but now you’re starting to see every pitch start to matter more. It’s fun.”
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The way the Twins offense responded was equally enjoyable for the rookie pitcher.
Two innings after Woods Richardson’s high-wire escape, the Twins got on the board first. Castro drew a one-out walk, Trevor Larnach (who had three hits) doubled and Royce Lewis made it 1-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Woods Richardson settled in and retired nine in a row into the fourth inning.
With their rookie throwing well, the Twins’ bats took over against Padres starter Matt Waldron.
Julien and Christian Vázquez singled with one out in the fourth inning and Martin delivered, driving both in with a double to left. Castro followed with a run-scoring double and Larnach and Lewis each singled, the latter bringing in a run to make it 5-0. Wallner then delivered a deafening blow, ripping a three-run homer to right to put the Twins in front by eight runs.
Even with his pitch count climbing, Woods Richardson didn’t let the momentum slip. Facing Kyle Higashioka with two on and two out in the fourth, Woods Richardson fought back from a 3-0 count to strike out the hitter looking with a slider up and in. As he exited the mound, Woods Richardson showed some emotion.
“He looks great out there,” Wallner said. “Sometimes, it’s like he gets some stupid swings on some pitches that I feel like other pitchers don’t. … Just mixing all those pitches and he’s always competing out there and holding us in the game so we can have innings like we had and win.”
Though he surrendered a solo homer in the fifth inning, Woods Richardson completed the frame to earn the victory. He ended it with a strikeout looking against Jake Cronenworth, the pitcher’s seventh whiff of the game.
Working with a fastball that touched 97 mph and averaged 94, Woods Richardson generated 13 swings and misses in 101 pitches. He limited the Padres to three hits, one run and walked two.
“He’s one of the reasons why we keep winning games,” Julien said. “He’s been so big for us.”
(Photo of Simeon Woods Richardson: Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)
