Twins, whose wildcard dreams are fading, host Marlins

The Minnesota Twins are running out of time in their fight for a spot in the wildcard playoffs.

Minnesota (81-76) will look to rebound when it hosts the Miami Marlins (58-99), the worst team in the National League, on Wednesday night in Minneapolis. The Twins lost the series opener 4-1 on Tuesday, giving them three straight losses and five in their last six games.

The Twins are two games behind the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers in the race for the American League wild-card playoffs with five games to go. A comeback is possible, but the mood is grim for a Minnesota team that has gone 11-23 since Aug. 18.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli tried to explain his team's decline in performance, especially on offense. Minnesota hasn't scored more than four runs in eight straight games and has been outscored 21-5 in the last three games where that much was on the line.

“There are no excuses,” Baldelli said. “We just have to continue to have good, better, more positive at-bats and then the results will follow.”

But Baldelli admitted that his team lacked the luxury of time.

“What do we have left, five games?” Baldelli said. “In my head, we're always taking it one game at a time, but right now we have to win a lot of games. It's not nearly enough for us to just play good baseball anymore. We have to win. And we know that.”

The Marlins know they have five games left before the start of a long offseason that could include a coaching change. Miami won for just the third time in its last 10 games, helping the Marlins avoid their first 100-loss season since 2019 for at least another day.

Marlins shortstop Xavier Edwards will look to stay strong at the plate after hitting 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in the series opener. Jonah Bride also had a good day, hitting 3-for-5 with a solo home run.

Connor Norby went 0-of-3 for Miami, but gained valuable experience at third base. The rookie moves up from second base and doesn't have much experience at third base, but sees value in starting there as the season winds down.

“If I want to learn the third position, the best way to learn is to play the third position, and I need to get some game reps,” Norby said. “I think that's the only way.”

Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (5-5, 4.00 ERA) will make his 28th start of the season. He will look to build on his last start, in which he allowed one run on five hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Cleveland Guardians last Thursday. He received a no-decision in a game Cleveland won 3-2 in 10 innings.

Woods Richardson has never faced the Marlins in his career. He has a 2-3 record and a 4.75 ERA in 10 interleague appearances (nine starts).

Miami counters with right-hander Edward Cabrera (4-8, 5.12). He is expected to make his 20th start of the season.

Cabrera will look to rebound from a rocky performance in his last start, when he allowed seven runs on four hits and five walks in 2 1/3 innings in a 20-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

This will be Cabrera's first career appearance against the Twins.

–Field level media