Rain-Soaked Loss to Royals Reflects Twins' Bigger Problems

Minnesota's 2026 season has not gotten off to a great start.

Apr 1, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Austin Martin (16) gets hit with a pitch, driving in a run with the bases loaded in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images | Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

The Twins entered the 2026 season with low expectations and even lower fan morale. A 1-4 start to hasn't helped either of those issues, and a rain-soaked 13-9 loss to the Royals felt like a perfect encapsulation of the current state of the franchise.

There was a forecast for heavy rain showers in Kansas City on Wednesday night. The heaviest stuff seemingly missed Kaufman Stadium, but there was enough persistent rain to ultimately lead to farcical scenes like that seen below.

Is this some sort of April Fools joke??? pic.twitter.com/7NwBwRmPD3

— 10,000 Takes (@10k_Takes) April 2, 2026

Each team had one error, neither starting pitcher lasted longer than five innings, and there were 24 total hits in the game. Minnesota's No. 1 starting pitcher, Joe Ryan, finished with nine hits and five earned runs in just 4.0 innings. The Twins have now lost eight of Ryan's last nine starts.

Irrespective of the Twins' many failings, it's not a great look for the game that the Twins had one of their two All-Star players from last season slipping and sliding all over the field.

Once again, the Twins' inability to get a hit with runners in scoring position reared its ugly head, with Luke Keaschall (twice), Matt Wallner (twice) Josh Bell and James Outman all leaving runners in scoring position.

The bats started firing towards the end of the game, but by that time the Twins were already 12-1 down.

It's pouring in Kansas City, Joe Ryan nearly hits a batter because he can't grip the ball and he's slipping on the mound and the umps keep 'em playing. Why? The game is no longer wiped out.

— Judd Zulgad (@jzulgad) April 2, 2026

The Twins had a trade deadline fire sale last summer as Pohlad family abandoned their attempts to sell the franchise, with both events pouring gasoline on fans' fire towards a baseball team that is floating in the wrong direction.

A five game sample size is far too early to draw any conclusions, but even the most optimistic Twins fans – and we employ one of them in Will Ragatz – should be struggling to find a reason to think this season could be different.

My “the Twins aren’t going to be THAT bad this year” stance is off to a very rough start. I’m also not quite ready to call it after 5 of 162.

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) April 2, 2026