Twins offense goes silent late in narrow loss to Braves

The last nine Minnesota batters went down in order in Saturday night's loss.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Justin Topa throws against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park in Atlanta on April 19, 2025. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Offense stalled for the Minnesota Twins in the latter third of Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Braves, resulted in a 4-3 Twins loss at Truist Park in Atlanta. After finding some early offense, the last nine Twins batters went down in order.

Relievers Daysbel Hernandez, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias secured the victory for the Braves (7-13), completely silencing the Twins over the final three innings.

The Twins decided to open the game with Justin Topa rather than having Simeon Woods Richardson make his regularly scheduled start, though Woods Richardson still pitched the bulk of the innings Saturday. Topa pitched just the first inning and gave up an RBI double to Matt Olson that knotted the game at 1-1. He gave up three hits and fanned one in the frame.

Luke Keaschall made his debut in the field after making his major league debut as the designated hitter in Friday night's series opener, and he continued to make an impact at the plate with an RBI double in the first inning for a 1-0 Twins lead.

Carlos Correa hit his first home run of the season, cracking a 358-foot solo shot off Braves starter Chris Sale in the fourth inning that knotted the game at 2-2. Sale gave up three hits and two runs and fanned eight across 4 1/3 innings of work.

The Twins (7-14) took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning on Byron Buxton's sacrifice fly, but Michael Harris II hit a 446-foot solo bomb off Woods Richardson in the bottom of the inning to knot it back up at 3-3. Woods Richardson's day came to an end after giving up back-to-back singles after that, putting Brock Stewart, who was reinstated from the injured list Saturday, in a difficult spot with two on and one out. Alex Verdugo hit an RBI single off Stewart that was the go-ahead run for Atlanta.

Woods Richardson gave up seven hits and three runs while fanning three across 4 1/3 innings.

The Twins and Braves meet for the series finale at 12:35 p.m. CT on Sunday.