The Twins win, the Lynx can’t quite get over the hump, and the MNUFC squad shrinks again. That and more, in today’s Minnesota roundup.

Part of being a baseball manager is giving players chances. It takes more than just a starting nine or a few great pitchers to win a game, and so every manager has to be long on optimism and short on memory, to put faith in struggling players and trust them to come through.

Eventually, though, every team has to lean on its big names and established stars. So while Byron Buxton and Pablo López and Carlos Correa and Max Kepler got a chance to try to make names for themselves, eventually Rocco Baldelli had to turn to his battle-tested players, the tried-and-true, like Royce Lewis and Willi Castro and Donovan Solano and of course the lights-out bullpen combo of Emilio Pagán and Griffin Jax to get the job done.

… I kid. But then again, do I? It was again the Twins Backup Plans that won the game for them, leading Minnesota to a 7-6 win over Cleveland, and the team to its first two-game winning streak since May 14.

Lopez, having completed five really good innings, gave up a walk and six singles in the sixth inning, turning a 3-1 lead into a 6-3 deficit - and when he gave way for Pagán, Twins fans could have been forgiven for switching channels.

Instead, Pagán twirled a solid two and a third - even pitching through some adversity! - to extend the game, and then the Twins’ no-names went to work. Castro beat out an infield hit. Solano ripped a double to left-center. Lewis, with his developing flair for the dramatic, then hit a mammoth home run to center field to tie the game.

After Jax, of all people, set the Guardians down in order in the ninth, the Twins won it in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a Christian Vázquez walk (he was 2-for-3) followed by a Jorge Polanco double, followed by Castro - aka Mr. Clutch, aka Future All-Star Willi Castro - winning the game with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

I feel I must point out that Buxton (plunked in the ribs with a 97-mph fastball), Correa (plantar fascitis flare-up), and Kepler (migraine) all had injury-related reasons for leaving the game. Still, though, for the second straight night, it was the little fish and not the big fish that won it for Minnesota.

Also, the Twins’ dwindling bench led to one of the great pinch-running moves of all time; after Polanco’s double moved Vázquez to third base in the ninth inning, the Twins pulled their catcher and inserted Ryan Jeffers, their only remaining bench player, a move that swapped their slowest player with their third-slowest. Rarely has a 300-foot fly ball to right-center left so much doubt as to whether a run could score from third base.

Once again, it was a loss caused by something different for the Minnesota Lynx, which fell to 0-6 on the year after an 89-84 loss at home against Connecticut. Minnesota fell behind by 15 with less than nine minutes to play, but managed to erase the entire deficit in five minutes, including a stretch where Napheesa Collier scored on four consecutive possessions - two free throws, three-pointer, driving layup, three-pointer.

The game was tied at 81 with three and a half minutes to go, but from there, things quickly soured for the Lynx. They gave up offensive rebounds on three straight possessions, leading to two buckets for the Sun. They missed three out of four free throws, then threw the ball away. That turned a tie game into a five-point deficit with 21 seconds to go, and that was enough for the Sun to pull the game out.

Sure, the Lynx may go 0-40 this year. But at least their losses are close? It may be too early to do this much grasping at straws, and yet…

Over in Minnesota United news, the club announced Thursday that they were waiving center back Doneil Henry. Henry was a depth signing even when he was made, but you could tell that they weren’t entirely happy with him; he began the season with an injury, but even after returning, he only made the team’s bench one time. Not even as the squad shrank, and the Loons regularly began filling out their lineup card with two keepers, or - as in the case of Wednesday’s game - two keepers and only five outfield players, did Henry even make an appearance in the substitutes.

He did play 72 minutes in one game for Minnesota United 2, in MLS NEXT Pro, so we’ll always have that. We’ll remember him fondly in the ranks of the Doubloons legends.

And hey, this clears an international roster spot for Minnesota. Assuming Luis Amarilla also departs, they’ll have two open (update: no they won’t, reader Collin reminded me that Amarilla got his green card this year and actually missed the beginning of the season to do so).

That said, at least in terms of recognized MLS players, the Loons are currently down to 15 guys, not counting goalkeepers. Rumors are that Emanuel Reynoso could return as soon as this weekend, so there’s one to add to the squad - and they desperately need the numbers.

The St. Paul Saints are on a roll, winners of five straight, after hammering Buffalo for a third consecutive day, 11-5. Matt Wallner was again the hero, homering (for a third straight day) and driving in three runs, and catcher Chris Williams homered and doubled and knocked in four.

Caleb Thielbar pitched another scoreless inning, and Josh Winder made his third consecutive clean appearance out of the bullpen, after a mid-May debacle (seven earned runs in one inning) semi-permanently blew up his season stats.

Jordan Balazovic struggled again, giving up three runs on four hits in two innings. Balazovic had a 1.80 ERA on May 9, but since then has allowed 14 earned runs in 15 and a third innings across five appearances. The former top-100 prospect is still trying to… find himself, I guess, it’s hard to see where he’s going right now.

TONIGHT: The Twins are set to take on Cleveland again on Friday night, in one of the famed Apple TV games (this offered as a public service for when your dad calls and asks which channel the game is on).

The Saints are still in Buffalo, too - these week-at-a-time Triple-A schedules sure are monotonous - and Minneapolis City is hosting Bavarian United in USL League Two action tonight, a game I’m going to be at, and writing about soon.