Red Sox-Twins opener postponed - MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins and Red Sox postponed their scheduled series opener on Monday following the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, on Sunday by a police officer in the suburb of Brooklyn Center, Minn.

Amid the greater context of the ongoing murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd last May, Wright’s death sparked protests in Brooklyn Center and unrest in the Twin Cities throughout Sunday afternoon and into the night.

Minnesota governor Tim Walz set a 7 p.m. curfew for Hennepin County, which contains the city of Minneapolis. The Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA and Minnesota Wild of the NHL also announced the postponements of their scheduled home games on Monday.

“Out of respect for the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Brooklyn Center, and following the additional details in this evolving situation, the Minnesota Twins have decided it is in the best interests of our fans, staff, players and community to not play today’s game,” the club announced in a statement.

“The decision was made by the Minnesota Twins after consultation with Major League Baseball, and local and state officials. Information regarding the rescheduling of today’s game, and corresponding ticket details, will be released in the near future.

“The Minnesota Twins organization extends its sympathies to the family of Daunte Wright.”

No makeup date has been announced for the game.

The Twins have also not determined how the remainder of the four-game series could be impacted, and the organization will remain responsive to developments around the Twin Cities and communications with local authorities, government and Major League Baseball through Monday night and into Tuesday as they make their decisions.

"We’re in the hotel and waiting to hear from MLB and the Twins to see what’s next as far as the series," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "We don’t have too many details.”

Twins president Dave St. Peter said there have not yet been any discussions about moving the series to Boston. There is also snow in the forecast for Tuesday in Minneapolis.

According to St. Peter, the decision to postpone the game came both out of respect to the Wright family and in the interest of the safety of fans, players and employees.

"We’re in regular communication with law enforcement as well as people within the governor’s office and elsewhere, and it's something we’re monitoring," St. Peter said. "We would obviously like to play games when it’s appropriate to play them, but at this point, those are decisions that will be made here in the days to come."

The decision to postpone the game wasn't made until very late in the pregame sequence, when many fans had already settled into their seats and the Red Sox had taken batting practice. But both the Twins and Red Sox were fully aware of the situation once the Twins came to a decision and are prepared to react to the developments over the next 24 hours.

"Our community has been through a lot," St. Peter said. "We have a trial taking place just blocks away from Target Field. Emotions across our community, emotions across our organization are raw. Based on the events of the last 24 hours and as information has started to come to light, playing a baseball game today felt a little less important.

"When you add a level of public safety to that, particularly the safety for fans, our players, our staff, again we thought the decision we made today was the right call. History will maybe tell us otherwise. But today, this moment, we're pretty confident we're doing the right thing."

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