Twins brace for Mariners with win streak in rearview mirror

For the first time in two weeks, the Minnesota Twins will try to bounce back from a loss when they take the field against the Seattle Mariners in Minneapolis on Monday night for the opener of a four-game set.

The Twins' 12-game winning streak ended with a 9-2 home loss against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. The defeat snapped the team's longest winning streak since 1991, when Minnesota rattled off 15 straight victories.

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said he and his teammates still feel good entering their series against Seattle -- even if Sunday's game did not turn out how they had hoped.

"It was special," Correa said of the winning streak. "Gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. It's going to be a long season. We knew it wasn't going to last forever."

Meanwhile, Seattle is looking to build upon a successful weekend series in which it won two of three games on the road against Houston. The Mariners are coming off a 5-4 win over the Astros on Sunday that featured a tiebreaking solo home run by Cal Raleigh during the top of the ninth inning.

Raleigh's blast secured the sixth series win in a row for the Mariners.

"We're pitching awesome," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "I've talked about that for the last month or so. Our defense has really picked up. ... We're still not clicking offensively, but we're starting to make some strides."

Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (3-4, 3.46 ERA) is set to make his eighth start of the season. He is looking to maintain a red-hot stretch in which he has gone 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his past three starts. During that time, he has allowed two runs on nine hits in 20 innings.

Castillo has faced the Twins five times (all starts) in his career. He is 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA in those contests, but he posted a 3.46 ERA in two starts against Minnesota in 2023.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 2.45). Woods Richardson is looking to bounce back from an up-and-down performance in his latest start, during which he gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings last Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. He did not factor into the decision.

Woods Richardson, 23, has never faced the Mariners in his brief career.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he felt proud of his team as it turned its attention to the Mariners. Minnesota lost 13 of its first 20 games before winning 12 of its past 13.

"The way we've come back from the start, which wasn't a great start, the way we came back from that shows character," Baldelli said. "That's something you're really looking for in your group."

This is the first series of the season between the Twins and Mariners. The teams played seven times last season, with Seattle posting a 4-3 series edge despite being narrowly outscored 40-38 in those games.

Minnesota is 8-7 at home this season. Seattle owns an identical 8-7 record on the road.