Twins defeat Mariners, 6-3, as Chris Paddack strikes out 10 and gets offensive support

MINNEAPOLIS — After completing the fifth inning in 92 pitches, Chris Paddack put on a jacket in the Twins dugout and walked over to manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Pete Maki.

Paddack covered his mouth, but his message was clear: He wanted to keep pitching.

It was a brief conversation and Paddack returned for the start of the sixth inning. He recorded one out, striking out a batter after giving up a leadoff single, but a taxed Twins bullpen needed every out they received from him.

The Twins held off the Seattle Mariners for a 6-3 victory at Target Field, using Caleb Thielbar, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran to cover the final 11 outs. Jax surrendered a two-run, two-out double to Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in the seventh inning, but the Twins scored two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Paddack left the mound to a standing ovation from fans behind the Twins dugout in the announced crowd of 15,685. He allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings, and his 99 pitches were the most he has thrown in a game since 2021.

Two nights before Paddack matched a season high with 10 strikeouts, he was sitting in a postgame clubhouse next to catcher Christian Vázquez. Paddack had just watched Simeon Woods Richardson complete a six-inning scoreless start, and he immediately wanted to review the scouting report.

Paddack listened as Vázquez explained which pitches worked versus certain hitters, and which pitches Woods Richardson tried to avoid against others.

It wasn't the most efficient start for Paddack, who permitted eight hits, but he had stretches of dominance. He generated five strikeouts and 12 swings and misses in the first two innings. Eight of his 10 strikeouts came through his fastball.

Mitch Garver hit an opposite-field solo homer in the fourth inning on a first-pitch fastball, but no other baserunner reached third base against Paddack.

Mariners starter George Kirby, who finished eighth in last year's American League Cy Young voting, allowed one run over his last 20 innings entering Wednesday. The Twins had two runs after three batters.

Carlos Correa and Trevor Larnach hit back-to-back 400-foot homers off Kirby in the first inning. Correa connected on a curveball that landed in the middle of the strike zone, and Larnach followed two pitches later with a second-deck homer to right-center field.

The original Rally Sausage, which Baldelli suggested would be trashed after the Twins' 12-game winning streak ended, was returned to the dugout Monday after they were no-hit against Luis Castillo through four innings. They scored in the fifth inning, and the summer sausage resumed its role of being tossed from the dugout after home runs.

Willi Castro delivered a 432-foot solo homer and an RBI triple off Kirby in his first two at-bats. Following Castro's triple, Kirby and the Mariners bullpen retired 11 straight hitters.

In the eighth inning, with the Twins holding on to a one-run lead, Edouard Julien hit a one-out single to end an 0-for-14 slump. Two batters later, Ryan Jeffers pulled a two-strike sinker from reliever Cody Bolton down the left-field line for an RBI double, and Max Kepler followed with an RBI double off the right-field wall.