The Minnesota Twins clearly have Kevin Gausman figured out.
Entering Saturday's game, Gausman owned a 6.35 ERA over 11 career starts against the Twins, and that doesn't include the three runs they hung on the Toronto Blue Jays ace in Game 1 of last year's wild card.
So perhaps unsurprisingly, Minnesota chased the 33-year-old early once again.
Gausman allowed seven runs — six earned — and 10 hits while walking two over three innings. He did manage to strike out six, but was replaced in the fourth inning by Zach Pop.
The Twins put up three runs in the first, taking advantage of four singles and an error by Davis Schneider in left field to immediately put the Blue Jays on their heels. They added a run in the second before Carlos Santana launched a three-run homer in the third.
All in all, Gausman threw 86 pitches and got 12 whiffs, but his fastball got hit by the Twins. Eight of the 10 hits he surrendered came on the fastball, including Santana's home run.
The outing further added to Gausman's uneven start to the season, bumping his ERA to 4.95. After finishing third in AL Cy Young voting a year, he had a delayed start to spring training, only pitching in-game for the first time in Toronto's last Grapefruit League game.
He has now allowed six or more runs in three of his eight starts in 2024.
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