The Minnesota Twins are caught up in a late-night affair with the Athletics on Tuesday night, and they have now fallen on hard times despite holding onto 9-3 lead late in the contest.

Twins starter Pablo Lopez was cruising along through five innings in this one, giving up just four hits and a pair of earned runs as his Twins held a three-run lead. Lopez had walked three, but only had thrown 72 pitches, so manager Rocco Baldelli and his staff were surely banking on getting at least another inning out of him.

That would not be the case, When Lopez came out for the sixth inning, he threw just one pitch in warm-ups before signaling to the Twins dugout and asking to check out of the game with an apparent injury.

Article Continues Below
More Minnesota Twins News
Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa (4) plays a ground ball off the bat of Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) in the first inning of the MLB interleague game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Minnesota Twins at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, June 19, 2025. The Twins led 9-4 after four innings.
3 Twins who must be on trade block ahead of 2025 deadlineZachary Howell ·
Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (23) hits a RBI single against the Texas Rangers in the fourth inning at Target Field.
Twins’ Royce Lewis heads to IL with hamstring strainAlex House ·
Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (25) runs off of the field before a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Byron Buxton exits Twins-Astros game with apparent injuryJoey Mistretta ·
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) awaits the manager to get pulled from throwing to the Texas Rangers in the fifth inning.
Twins’ Bailey Ober makes admission after struggle vs. RangersJosh Davis ·
Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) rounds third base to score on a single hit by first baseman Ty France (13) during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field.
Twins’ Rocco Baldelli gushes about ‘mesmerizing’ Byron Buxton performanceJedd Pagaduan ·
Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) celebrates with pitcher Jorge Alcala (66) after defeating the Cincinnati Reds at Target Field.
Red Sox trade with Twins to boost pitching depthScotty White ·

This is obviously a major development for the Twins, who will now have to dig a little bit deeper into their bullpen than maybe they were planning on doing coming into Tuesday night. Minnesota started the post-Lopez portion of the game with Cole Sands, who gave up one run in the sixth inning to allow the Athletics to have some life.

Thankfully for Baldelli and company, that life was short-lived thanks to the Twins' offense. Minnesota racked up four runs in the top of the seventh inning to truly blow the game open and all but secure the victory, giving the Twins the first two games of a four-game set with the A's.

However, the focus and concern will be on the health of Lopez moving forward. The former Miami Marlin has proven to be very steady so far this season, coming into Tuesday with a 4-3 record and just a 2.75 ERA in 10 starts for the season. The right-hander has only given away 11 walks on the season to go with his 57 strikeouts.

The Twins will have to shuffle the rotation around if Lopez is forced to miss significant time, which could halt some of the momentum for what has been a hot baseball team of late. While Minnesota is still chasing the Detroit Tigers at the top of the AL Central, they are well above the .500 mark and are firmly in the wild card race in the American League.