'2020 Kenta' and red-hot Julien keep Twins rolling

SEATTLE -- Neither Edouard Julien nor Kenta Maeda was on this roster for large chunks of the year, and neither was still in the ballgame to see the late turning points of the Twins’ 6-3 victory over the Mariners on Wednesday night. But with every passing day, their importance to Minnesota’s success down the stretch becomes ever clearer.

Julien’s relentless ability to reach base has helped to spur the Twins’ offensive turnaround, which continued as he homered, singled and walked twice to reach base four times, continuing to assert his case for any fit possible on this roster. And Maeda looked better than ever in 6 1/3 dominant innings, his stuff playing up to levels unseen since long before his Tommy John surgery as a key reinforcement to the rotation.

“A few innings in, we’re looking at each other saying all those things: It’s the best stuff I’ve ever seen [Maeda] have,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s really exciting stuff. To see him bringing that to a new level at this point in the season, at this point in his career -- it was a big day.”

All around Julien and Maeda, the others are stepping up, too -- from Max Kepler’s two hits and key baserunning to score the go-ahead run on a passed ball in the eighth inning to Emilio Pagán’s high-leverage eighth to Alex Kirilloff’s power surge manifesting in another opposite-field homer for two insurance runs to Jhoan Duran’s new velocity record with a 104.8 mph fastball en route to his 16th save.

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And resurgence defined these Twins, who endured a game-tying homer from Eugenio Suárez in the seventh by adding a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to claim their fifth victory in six games to begin the second half, bringing them to three games above .500 for the first time since June 3.

Though the offensive surge has been a key development during this first road trip following the All-Star break, Maeda’s return to seemingly having his best stuff since his AL Cy Young runner-up season in 2020 is a great sign for a team on which he is, on paper, the fifth starter.

When your fifth starter can go 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts, no walks and three hits allowed with a run of 15 straight retired, an already dominant rotation at or near the top of the Majors in most major categories looks even better.

“What's huge is that I don't really have to worry about my elbow situation, where in the past, if I put a little force into my pitch, then I would feel it in my elbow, and that's what I had to fight through,” Maeda said through interpreter Dai Sekizaki. “Now that I don't have to worry about that, I can concentrate on the pitch itself.”

Since Maeda’s June 23 return from a two-month absence for a triceps strain, he has a 2.73 ERA with 36 strikeouts and nine walks in 26 1/3 innings. And most encouragingly, after he struggled to maintain 90 mph with his fastball earlier this season, his fastball touched 93.4 mph and averaged 91.8 on Wednesday -- his highest since April 27, 2021, long before the surgery.

“This is 2020 Kenta,” said catcher Ryan Jeffers, who knocked an RBI single in the second inning. “This is, throw anything in any count, good luck, stuff's moving like crazy, fastball's jumpy.”

And as the Twins show signs of finally synchronizing their offense and pitching for the first time this season, Julien has led the offensive charge, having reached base in 18 of his last 26 plate appearances, including all four on Wednesday against Mariners ace Luis Castillo.

With that, Julien is hitting .531/.583/1.094 in 36 plate appearances in July, with his lengthy at-bats and often explosive results setting an example for an increasingly patient Twins offense that has blown up the early pitch counts of all three Seattle starters this series -- Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and, now, Castillo.

“It feels like I make adjustments at-bat to at-bat, pitch to pitch,” Julien said. “It’s just easier for me right now. I’m in a good spot. I feel comfortable in my swing, I feel comfortable in my approach. It feels like every time I go to the plate, I get a pitch to hit, and I usually put a good swing on it.”

So far, the Twins couldn’t have asked for a better start to their second half -- and this offers plenty to build on.