Simeon Woods Richardson lets lead slip away as Twins lose to Blue Jays, 10-4

Bobby Nightengale, Star Tribune on Apr 10, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TORONTO — After all the good vibes, momentum and positivity surrounding the Twins following their four-game sweep against Detroit, the defending American League champions hit them with a gut punch.

Simeon Woods Richardson and the Twins wasted a four-run lead in their 10-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at Rogers Centre, which ended their four-game winning streak. The Blue Jays scored a run in each of their final five innings.

The fourth inning snowballed on Woods Richardson and the Twins defense. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opened with a line-drive double that sailed over a leaping and tumbling Byron Buxton in center field. Jesús Sánchez rocketed the next pitch, a 91-mph fastball, into the outfield for an RBI double.

Two batters later, Davis Schneider lined a ball that spun around right fielder Matt Wallner, dropping for an RBI double on a bad defensive play.

Woods Richardson was one strike from pitching out of the inning, escaping with a two-run lead, when Andrés Giménez hit a fastball in a 0-2 count, and the ball bounced through the left side of the infield for an RBI single. Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela followed with a two-run homer to right field, connecting on a splitter that didn’t split for the first home run of his major league career.

Just like that, in a span of seven batters, the Twins’ four-run lead was gone, and the announced crowd of 40,721 roared with approval.

The fourth inning didn’t come to an end until George Springer reached on a Tristan Gray throwing error, and Springer was later thrown out attempting to steal third.

Woods Richardson yielded six hits and five runs across four innings. In the first three innings, only two baserunners reached against him. In the fourth inning, he gave up five hits (four with exit velocities exceeding 106 mph) and five runs before he recorded two outs.

The Blue Jays, who had lost seven of their past nine games, used the five-run inning to wake up their offense.

Daulton Varsho, in the fifth inning, greeted Twins left-hander Anthony Banda with a solo homer on Banda’s third pitch. Banda left a sinker over the heart of the plate, and Varsho hit it 405 feet for the Wisconsin native’s 100th career home run.

Banda gave up RBI doubles to Ernie Clement and Springer in the sixth inning. The veteran lefty has given up seven hits and seven runs over his past two relief appearances.

It was Banda’s first time pitching at Rogers Centre since Game 1 of the World Series when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Banda gave up a grand slam to Addison Barger and a two-run homer to Alejandro Kirk in a loss.

Twins lefty Taylor Rogers, playing against his twin brother Tyler’s team, conceded three hits in the seventh inning, including an RBI single to Schneider. Guerrero hit an RBI double off Justin Topa in the eighth.

The Twins gave Woods Richardson a three-run lead before he took the mound. Austin Martin hit a single to end an eight-pitch at-bat with left-hander Patrick Corbin, who was making his season debut, and Luke Keaschall showed off his speed when he beat out a ground ball to shortstop for an infield single.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Ryan Jeffers drove a first-pitch cutter into the left field seats for a three-run homer. It was Jeffers’ first home run of the season.

The Twins have homered in their past 24 games at Rogers Centre (Aug. 26, 2017-present), the longest streak by any team in the ballpark’s history, including the Blue Jays, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Brooks Lee, one day after he hit a game-winning single, drilled a full-count cutter over the left-field wall for a leadoff homer to begin the fourth inning. It was Lee’s first homer of the year, and his first homer in a road game since Aug. 27, 2025, when he hit a solo homer in, you may have guessed it, Toronto.