Twins bullpen again offers no relief in 11-4 loss to Blue Jays

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on May 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins put right-handed reliever Luis García in their bullpen on April 28, two weeks after the struggling New York Mets released him. Five days later, they were counting on him to save their bullpen.

The sorry state of the Twins bullpen, especially after Cole Sands went on the 15-day injured list, meant they needed García to pitch in their highest leverage situation Saturday. García entered to face the heart of the Toronto Blue Jays lineup with a one-run lead in the eighth inning.

Eight runs scored before the Twins recorded their next out in a deflating and dispiriting 11-4 loss at Target Field.

The Twins have lost 13 of their past 16 games. They are the only major league team without a one-run win this season, and they have lost six games when they were leading or tied after seven innings.

García faced four batters, conceding a leadoff single to Ernie Clement and a walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Kazuma Okamoto, who has three homers over the past two days, hit a tying RBI single to center, a ground ball that was deflected by diving second baseman Luke Keaschall.

Toronto took the lead when Lenyn Sosa hit an RBI infield single, a well-placed chopper with the infield drawn in.

Left-hander Anthony Banda replaced García, inheriting two runners on base and a one-run deficit. Banda induced a comebacker to the mound on his first pitch, a potential double play grounder, but the ball bounced through his legs for an error.

Banda never recovered. He walked Myles Straw, the next batter, on four pitches. Davis Schneider followed with a two-run double down the left field line, breaking a 0-for-27 slump that was the longest active streak in the majors. Rookie Brandon Valenzuela, the No. 9 hitter, drilled Banda’s next pitch for a three-run homer.

Eight consecutive batters reached base. They all scored. Another rough day for the Twins bullpen, which owns a collective 5.48 ERA.

At the same time García entered in the eighth inning, Louis Varland was warming up for the Blue Jays. Varland, now Toronto’s closer, is a reminder of the type of arms the Twins used to bring out of their bullpen. The North St. Paul native has given up one earned run in 17 innings (0.53 ERA) with 28 strikeouts, making him one of the top relievers in the league this season.

The Twins played a minute-long tribute video for Varland before the series opener Thursday, which featured clips from his old Hulk-themed walk-out video. Varland smiled and tipped his hat to the crowd.

“He would’ve been the next closer over there, without a doubt,” said Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who lauds the Varland trade as one of the best in Blue Jays history. “I was kind of shocked when I learned that. He’s been unbelievable for us.”

The Twins have yet to see the fruits from their end of the trade, but they are not chalking it up as a loss internally. At least not yet.

Left-hander Kendry Rojas was the big prize in the deal, and he made his first major league cameo in April with two innings out of the bullpen. Rojas, 23, has a 1.46 ERA in 12 1/3 innings with the Class AAA Saints. Outfielder Alan Roden, who didn’t make the Opening Day roster, is sidelined because of a torn labrum.

“It’s hard to part with someone like Louis Varland that has that talent and all the other factors that come with him,” Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said. “When we were evaluating it knowing that we were getting both a left-handed pitcher that throws mid-to-upper 90s and, in addition, Alan Roden, who has dealt with a couple of unfortunate injuries here, but a player who’s performed really well in the minor leagues.”

In his third major league start, Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp exited with a two-run lead after he yielded three hits and two runs in five innings. Prielipp gave up solo homers to Sosa and Straw in the second inning.

The Twins’ 4-2 lead was cut in half after reliever Justin Topa surrendered a 453-foot solo homer to Okamoto in the sixth inning. Kody Funderburk recorded four outs before the eighth-inning disaster.

The Twins scored four runs in seven innings against Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease. Byron Buxton homered on Cease’s fourth pitch, depositing a 96-mph fastball just over the right field wall for an opposite-field, leadoff homer. Buxton, who didn’t homer in his first 14 games, has 10 home runs over his past 17.

It was Buxton’s 21st career leadoff homer, the second-most in Twins history behind Brian Dozier’s 28.

The Twins scored two runs in the second inning, aided by an error from Guerrero at first base, and Trevor Larnach hit an RBI single in the fifth, but the Twins had only one hit over the final four innings.