27 September 2023
Chris Paddack was just a few feet away from the mound, a few feet away from making a return that he had waited a year and a half for on Sunday when the skies opened. The rain intensified and instead of taking the mound, Paddack and the Twins headed inside to wait out a 50-minute rain delay. When the game resumed, it was Louie Varland, not Paddack, on the mound.
Paddack’s long-awaited return had to wait until Tuesday, when he threw two innings in Tuesday’s 11-3 over the Oakland Athletics in the series opener at Target Field.
The starter, who will be in a relief role for the remainder of the season, gave up a single to the first batter he had faced since May 8, 2022. He then proceeded to strike out the next three batters, touching 99 miles per hour on the radar gun.
His next inning didn’t go quite as well. The 27-year-old allowed a single, home run, walk and double to the first four batters, producing three runs and prompting a trip to the mound by pitching coach Pete Maki. He then settled in, retiring the next three batters in order to end his outing.
Paddack’s return came in a game where the Twins (84-73) took control early and never looked back against the A’s (48-109). Donovan Solano’s two-out single in the first inning was followed by three consecutive walks from Oakland starter Paul Blackburn, forcing in a run. Matt Wallner then cleared the bases, launching a grand slam — his second and the Twins’ seventh this season — 463 feet out to center.
Alex Kirilloff tacked on another two runs with an opposite-field home run to left in the fifth inning, giving starter Bailey Ober plenty of run support. Ober, using a changeup-heavy approach, was nearly flawless in his five innings, giving up just two singles. The starter fanned eight.
The Twins continued to tack on runs after his departure, adding four in the seventh inning. Three of those runs scored on a Christian Vázquez double, clearing the bases after the Athletics had intentionally walked Wallner before him.
They then capped off Tuesday’s game with another long-awaited return — Brock Stewart’s. The reliever, on the injured list since late June, gave up a single to begin his outing but pitched around it, striking out a pair in his inning of work.