The Twins had this one lined up beautifully, then watched it all come apart in a hurry.
Minnesota jumped out fast and loud in the opening inning. Trevor Larnach worked a walk, Josh Bell and Kody Clemens followed with singles, and then Brooks Lee unloaded a 353-foot grand slam that sailed beyond the rim.
That made it 4-0 Twins before the Phillies had really settled in. Clemens wasn’t done there, either.
In the bottom of the third, he added his 21st home run of the season to push the lead to 5-0.
For five innings, Dean Kremer looked in control. The sixth inning changed everything.
The frame opened with a walk, a single, and another walk, then a Luis Arraez groundout got Philadelphia on the board. After that came the swing that cracked the game open: Alec Bohm turned Kremer’s third pitch to him into a three-run homer.
Just like that, the Phillies were within one at 5-4.
Kody Funderburk and A.J. Minter kept Philadelphia quiet over the rest of the sixth and seventh, but Minnesota’s offense never gave the cushion back any life.
The Phillies kept pressing in the eighth, and Andrew Morris had a rough one at the worst possible time. He was tagged for 1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, with RBI hits from Bohm and Bryan De La Cruz pushing Philadelphia in front 7-5.
Minnesota did show a little pulse in the ninth, as is apparently required this season. Victor Caratini drew a walk and Kaelen Culpepper singled, but Jhoan Duran shut the door by striking out Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton to finish it off.
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 7, Minnesota Twins 5.
The Twins were swept by the Phillies and keep sliding toward the edges of both the AL Central and Wild Card races. As the source put it: “We cannot beat them here (Target Field) or there (Field of Dreams), we cannot beat them anywhere”.
For the birthday-party distraction crowd, there was at least this: it turned into the kind of loss you could only grumble about from the recliner. And as for Morris, the night belonged to the inning that flipped the whole game.
In Other News...
Twins Face A Catcher Decision As Wallner Keeps Making Noise
A busy stretch across the Twins minor league system included action in St. Paul, Iowa and Fort Myers, with pitching performances, timely scoring and a few standout individual efforts worth noting. Those day-to-day updates matter in part because they can hint at bigger roster decisions looming on the edge of the big league picture, especially when a catcher is involved and depth behind the plate is always under a little more scrutiny.
Alex Jackson is now part of that conversation after being outrighted to St. Paul, a move that puts the organizations next step into focus. He will have to decide whether to remain in the system or test free agency, and for a club that is constantly balancing present need against future flexibility, it is the kind of decision that can quietly shape the rest of the catching mix. [Read more 🡒]
Kaelen Culpepper Gave Twins Fans A Rookie Moment Worth Watching
Kaelen Culpepper keeps giving Twins fans reasons to lean in. In the bottom of the ninth, with Minnesota trailing by two, the rookie stepped into the box against former Twin Jhoan Duran and turned the matchup into a real moment, working a nine-pitch battle against some high-velocity stuff before finally chopping a ground-ball single to put two runners on base.
It was the sort of at-bat that can stick with a young player because it showed more than contact. Culpepper has looked promising since his promotion, hitting .250/.345/.417, even with a strikeout rate that still shows how much there is left to polish. Against Duran, he didnt flinch, and for a team looking for any spark, that counted for plenty. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Keaschall Is Forcing A Twins Decision They Can't Delay
Luke Keaschall has done enough with the bat to keep the Twins interested, and then some. Through the 2026 season, he has provided the kind of offensive production that makes a young player hard to take out of the lineup, even as the defensive side keeps complicating the picture for Minnesotas front office.
The trouble is that the glove has not given the Twins a clean answer yet. Keaschall has struggled at second base and in the outfield, with negative Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved piling up, leaving the club to keep weighing how much offense it can carry while it searches for a long-term defensive home that still makes sense on the roster. [Read more 🡒]