Every year, when the Wild make the playoffs, suddenly there seems to be a random injury generator that kicks into overdrive at Xcel Energy Center. Last year, it was Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Erikkson Ek and Ryan Hartman that all got random injuries. Usually, after the Wild’s annual first-round exit, we find out that six or seven players were playing with broken bones, or ruptured tendons, or legs that had been torn from the body and hastily reattached with bailing wire.

I don’t know what causes this in St. Paul, but whatever it is, it’s found its way to Minneapolis.

A day after Carlos Correa reaggravated the plantar fascitis that’s plagued him all year, Royce Lewis managed to hurt himself while running yet again, pulling his hamstring.

This being Royce Lewis, he played two more innings, and only left the game when he made things worse while trying to swing the bat. If the guy worked construction, he’d be the guy who accidentally nailed his hand to the side of a wall with a nail gun, and then also broke his own fingers trying to pry out the nails with a claw hammer.

The Twins did beat Cincinnati, 7-0, and Willi Castro was the standout; he not only hit a two-run homer, but saved at least four runs defensively, two with a sliding two-out catch with runners on second and third, and two by bringing back a home run from over the fence.

Kenta Maeda struck out eight in five innings, allowing just a solitary hit and a walk. It’s the latest edition of Maeda’s case to be the potential Game 3 starter for the Twins in a playoff series; since returning from the injured list in mid-June, Maeda has 98 strikeouts in 85 innings, a FIP of 3.86, and has held opponents to a .683 OPS.

I feel like Maeda’s lack of a blazing fastball or any shutdown off-speed stuff has let him go semi-unnoticed in the discussion about who the Twins’ third-best starter is, but those are all above-average numbers. Going by game score, he has 12 quality starts in 16 games, in that same span; many of those starts have been of the five-inning variety, but perhaps you just plan to back him up with a few innings of Louie Varland.

Right now, you’d have to like Maeda better than Joe Ryan or Bailey Ober in a decisive Game 3, wouldn’t you?

Cleveland lost again, so the Twins’ magic number is 3. I’ve said all along that the true magic number is 81, as in wins, and the Twins are now one away from that, so get the champagne ready.

And hey, if the Twins win ten more in a row to finish the year, they could still be a 90-win team, too!

Tonight is the decisive Game 3 of the Minnesota Lynx’s first-round playoff series with the Connecticut Sun (7:00, ESPN), and the Lynx will be at home for this one. I’m not sure this is an advantage; Minnesota was 9-11 at home this year, the worst home record among playoff teams.

The Lynx, a three-person offense during the regular season, have become a two-person show in the playoffs. Napheesa Collier is one of the league’s stars, and put up 26 points and 13 rebounds in Minnesota’s Game 2 win; Kayla McBride added 28 more, including going 6-11 from three, perhaps the most important factor in keeping the Sun at bay.

Minnesota’s perimeter defense may be the decider. In Game 1, Connecticut poured in 16 threes, a franchise record; in Game 2, they were just 7-20, and lost despite a combined 50 points from Alyssa Thomas and Dewanna Bonner.

The last time the Lynx won a multi-game playoff series, it was 2017, and they were winning the WNBA Finals. Sunday’s victory was only their second playoff win since then. If they can pull of a victory tonight, it would represent a huge step for a very young team.

The St. Paul Saints finally got back into the win column on Tuesday, after losing five in a row to Iowa last week. At this point, they’re playing for pride… and, for a bunch of players, to have a shot at the Twins postseaon roster.

Nick Gordon, returning from a broken leg, was 2-for-3 with a double. Chris Paddack, who you forgot was even in the Twins organization, struck out five in three innings of work. Brock Stewart, who went down the bullpen injury hole in midseason, pitched a scoreless inning.

Jordan Balazovic…. well, he gave up two runs. He’s had a rough year and isn’t going to pitch in the MLB postseason, no matter how long he was with the Twins this year.

This is the Saints’ final series of the season, and the weather is providing a bit more summer for all of us to enjoy some more baseball, so - just saying - it might be a good time to get to CHS Field.

TODAY’S SLATE

TWINS at Cincinnati, 11:35am
LYNX vs Connecticut, Game 3, 7pm
LOONS at LA Galaxy, 9:30pm

SAINTS vs Toledo, 6:37pm

ON DECK

GOPHER VOLLEYBALL at Iowa, Thursday
GOPHER FOOTBALL at Northwestern, Saturday
LYNX at Connecticut, Game 2, Sunday
VIKINGS vs Chargers, Sunday (noon)
WILD at Colorado, preseason, Sunday