Where are the Twins fans?

What if the Twins got a great pitching performance from Jake Odorizzi and their bullpen enroute to a 1-0 win over one of the best hitting teams in all of baseball and there was nobody there to see it. Did it really happen?

We are now into the second full month of the Major League Baseball season (don’t forget that the season started on March 28), and the Twins are on top of the American League’s Central Division. They have one of the top offenses in baseball, have been hitting home runs at a staggering pace, and yet Twins fans have basically been no-shows at Target Field.

Case in point. With the West leading Houston Astros in town Monday night there were once again huge sections of empty seats throughout the stadium.  Perhaps they’re hiding in the restrooms or they’re playing carnival games in the new plaza area. But one thing’s for sure, they’re not in the seats.

The announced attendance Monday was 12,615, the Twins  10th sub 20-thousand crowd of the season. And let’s remember, that’s announced attendance which in layman’s terms means tickets sold. Actual butts in seats couldn’t have been more than five thousand, and that may be a reach. That’s a number only the Twins know and rest assured they won’t let that cat out of the bag. And Monday’s crowd size has been the norm. Against Toronto two weeks ago the Twins broke Target Field low-attendance records twice in the same series. Once on Monday the 15th (folks were busy doing their taxes) and again on Wednesday the 17th (folks who didn’t do their taxes were running from the tax man).

Everyone from the ticket scalpers outside the stadium to the brain trust in the building will tell you that our April weather has been a big factor in the struggling attendance numbers. But what the heck? Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander on the mound for Houston, the first place Twins riding a 3 game winning streak and you get just enough people to fill up Roy Wilkins Auditorium.  Monday’s actual crowd wouldn’t have filled up the Saints’ CHS Field in St. Paul.  Maybe the Twins should think about playing a few games over in St. Paul. I hear the parking is a little more fan friendly.

TWINS NOTES:

1. THE TWINS won game one of the four-game series by a score of 1-0…marks the 82nd time in club history…the last time the Twins won 1-0 came May 12, 2017 at Cleveland…are now 4-0 in their current homestand and have won eight of their last 10 games.

2. Marked just the 22nd time in franchise history that the Twins won a 1-0 game, with the lone run coming via the home run, with the last instance coming in the aforementioned May 12, 2017 affair against Cleveland (Miguel Sanó home run).

3. Have now hit 50 homeruns (32 solo, 11 two-run, seven three-run) so far through 26 games, the most in club history through 26.

4. JAKE ODORIZZI earned his third win of the season and his fifth vs. the Astros tonight…worked 7.0 innings of four-hit baseball in his seventh appearance (all starts) against the Astros (three with Tampa Bay, four with Minnesota).

5. Marks just his third outing with 7.0+ innings pitched in a Twins uniform…done on August 24, 2018 vs. Oakland and September 12,  2018 vs. New York-AL.

6. Struck out a total of seven batters bringing his total to 30 on the year which ties the most through his first six starts since 2016.

7. MAX KEPLER reached on a 10-pitch walk in the first and has now reached safely in eight out of his last 11 games vs. Houston.

8. Entering today, Justin Verlander had faced 11,497 batters…Kepler was just the 76th to ever see 10+ pitches in an at-bat.

9. JONATHAN SCHOOP is now hitting .365 (35-for-96) with nine doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and a .986 OPS in 24 games vs the Astros… the .365 average is the highest vs. any AL opponent.

10. MARWIN GONZALEZ started at first base for the first time since September 1, 2018 vs. Los Angeles-AL…he made 135 starts at first base with Houston before this season.

11. EHIRE ADRIANZA hit a solo shot in the third, his first homer since August 30, 2018 at Cleveland and his second career in the month of April…just the 16th home run Verlander has ever allowed to the Twins.