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Twins notebook, 7/24
Twins happy to see Blyleven honored
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
Blyleven, who had his No. 28 retired by the Twins eight days earlier at Target Field, has been in Cooperstown since Wednesday for various Hall of Fame activities. On Sunday, the day finally came for Blyleven — along with Roberto Alomar and Pat Gillick — to be honored at the Hall of Fame.
“It should be really cool,” lefty reliever Glen Perkins, a Minnesota native, said prior to the ceremony. “I remember when [Kirby] Puckett went in and [Paul] Molitor went in. Those were guys that I watched go in, and I never really knew Kirby, but I’ve known Paul pretty well for a while.
“I know Bert as well as I know Paul, so it’s going to be cool to watch him give that speech and see him at the Hall of Fame there. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
The Twins showed Blyleven’s speech on the video board for fans attending Sunday’s game, while Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and the players planned to watch it on TV in the clubhouse.
“I wish that we could be there to enjoy it with him,” Michael Cuddyer said. “But it’s been a long time coming, and he deserves it as much as anybody does.”
Given Blyleven’s 16-year career as a Twins broadcaster and his knack for keeping things interesting on the air, his speech is expected to be a good one.
“I can’t wait to listen; it ought to be really entertaining, knowing all the stories that he has,” Gardenhire said Sunday morning. “There’s got to be something good in there. I’d like to listen to it in here; I’m interested in what he has to say. It’ll be fun stories, knowing Bert.”
Baker feeling fine after first start off DL
MINNEAPOLIS — While he had no issues throwing 82 pitches in five innings on Saturday night, the important thing for Twins right-hander Scott Baker was how he felt the next day.
Before Sunday’s series finale with the Tigers, Baker said he felt great.
“I kind of had an idea that I was going to feel OK, because once I was done, I just felt like I got a good workout,” Baker said. “As far as a hurting type of soreness, I don’t have anything like that. I haven’t played catch yet, but I feel like everything should be fine.”
In making his first start since July 5, Baker went in with a limit of 75-80 pitches. After finishing the fourth with 72 pitches, Baker went back out for the fifth and tossed 10 more before leaving the game, having allowed just three hits.
Baker said he expected to be able to increase his pitch count in his next outing.
“I’ll leave that up to them,” Baker said. “But I’d like at least get to the 100-pitch mark next time.”
Span plays back-to-back rehab games
MINNEAPOLIS — Center fielder Denard Span played seven innings for Triple-A Rochester in a rehab game on Sunday after also playing seven innings on Saturday.
Span went 0-for-4 on Sunday in the Red Wings’ 3-0 loss. Through six rehab games, after being on the shelf since early June with a concussion, Span has three hits in 20 at-bats with Rochester. All three hits were singles, and Span has also stolen a base.
“Everything seems to be going along just fine,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who watched Denard play on Saturday night. “He’s feeling good.”
While a return to the Twins seems likely to come soon for Span, it will not happen until he plays full games in center field on consecutive nights. Gardenhire has also talked recently about getting Span going at the plate before his return.
“He’s still playing seven innings,” Gardenhire said. “The talk is trying to get him to where [he’s] playing nine innings, probably four or five days in a row. Then we’ll see where we’re at. He’s getting close to being able to do that.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Cuddyer sets up Nathan to save Twins’ win
MINNEAPOLIS — As he ran out Saturday from the bullpen, Joe Nathan entered his first ninth-inning save situation since April. Thrilled to see Nathan back in the closer’s role, the Twins crowd gave him a huge ovation with music blaring in the background.
Entering in the ninth inning with a lead provided a distinct difference for Nathan, who admitted he had to calm himself down a bit.
“Yeah, especially running in, it got a little louder than normal,” Nathan said. “Usually, it’s like advertisements going on in the eighth inning. So yeah, you’ve got to calm down a little bit more.”
Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up just one hit as he picked up his first save since April 8, and the Twins came away with the 4-3 victory over the Royals.
Getting a save in his first day back in the closer’s role since mid-April was a big moment for Nathan, who has been excellent since returning from the disabled list in June.
“I’ve been through that Tommy John surgery, and he came back really well,” said Twins starter Carl Pavano. “He had a little bit of a hiccup, which we all have in that surgery and now he looks like he’s returning to himself. And I think he’s feeling pretty good about it.”
Nathan’s save was the 250th of his career in a Twins uniform, putting him four saves away from tying Rick Aguilera for first on the Twins’ all-time list.
Facing the middle of the Royals’ order, Nathan only made one bad pitch, which resulted in a single to right by Eric Hosmer. Nathan got the other three batters he faced to pop out.
“He had a good slider,” said Royals manager Ned Yost. “His fastball’s down from what it used to be, but it still looks crisp. His breaking ball looks a lot sharper to me, but I hadn’t seen him for a long time.”
Nathan got the save opportunity thanks to a big hit in the eighth inning by Twins All-Star Michael Cuddyer.
Following a pair of singles by Alexi Casilla and Joe Mauer, Cuddyer stepped to the plate with two on and one out, facing All-Star reliever Aaron Crow. Cuddyer delivered with a single of his own into the gap in right field, scoring Casilla easily from third to put the Twins on top for good.
After the game, Cuddyer was asked if it ever gets old to come up in those situations.
“Never, from the time I was six in my driveway envisioning it ’til now, it never gets old,” Cuddyer said. “Especially when you succeed.”
Cuddyer fell behind Crow after chasing a slider out of the zone, but connected with the 1-2 pitch for the RBI single.
“Yeah, I was looking for the slider,” Cuddyer said. “Sometimes when you’re looking for the pitch you chase it no matter where it is, and that’s what I did on the 1-1. The two-strike one, I was able to get it up a little bit and fortunately was able to throw it out in the outfield.”
With the win, the Twins climbed back to within six games of first place in the American League Central and just six games under .500.
Ben Revere got things started for the Minnesota offense, leading off the first with a single and stealing third base before scoring on a groundout to second. Delmon Young then followed with an RBI double, scoring Cuddyer from first base.
Catcher Drew Butera also homered in the fourth for the Twins, his second of the year.
Pavano delivered a solid start for the Twins, allowing three runs on six hits over seven innings. The right-hander held the Royals scoreless until giving up a two-run home run to Alcides Escobar with two out in the fifth.
The Royals also added a third run off Pavano in the sixth to tie the game.
“I thought my stuff was alright tonight,” Pavano said. “I thought I made some good pitches, I thought I second-guessed myself a little bit. Me and Drew talked after the game, I definitely beat myself a couple times, that cost me some runs.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Twins fall as big lead evaporates late
MINNEAPOLIS — It had been nearly a month since Matt Capps blew a save. Since that June 8 outing, the Twins’ closer had thrown six straight scoreless innings and converted five saves in a row.
The Brewers finally got the best of Capps on Saturday, though, as they rallied for an 8-7 victory at Target Field.
“That was pretty tough, that was embarrassing,” Capps said.
“It’s not the first tough night I’ve had. [But] it might be the worst night I’ve had that I can remember in my career.”
Called upon to close it out with the Twins leading the Brewers by three runs, Capps gave up three straight singles before getting the next two outs. With two on and two out, all Capps had to do was get Nyjer Morgan out to end the game.
Having played with Morgan for three years, Capps knew just how to pitch the Brewers’ center fielder, too. In fact, he had gotten him out in a similar situation in the past.
In 2009, Capps faced Morgan with two on and two out, as the Pirates held a 5-4 lead on the Nationals. That time, Capps got Morgan to pop out to center field to secure the victory.
This time, Morgan drove a double off the wall in right field, plating two runs to tie the ballgame.
“Go for them seats,” Morgan said of his approach, before fitting in a mention of his alter ego, Tony Plush. “In that situation, with Plush facing one of my former teammates in Matt Capps, I know he’s going to come after me. He [threw] a nice pitch, and I happened to get it with the sweet spot of the bat. I thought I put it in them seats. I should have kept running to third. I was caught in the moment, there. But now I know for next time, I’ll keep running for third.”
Morgan crushed a 94-mph, first-pitch fastball just over the outstretched glove of Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer, completing a 3-for-4 night. Along with the double, Morgan had a two-run homer and a triple, with four RBIs and three runs scored.
“I felt like I had a bead on it,” Cuddyer said. “It felt close.”
Finally, pinch-hitter George Kottaras delivered the knockout punch to Capps, ripping a single to right-center to give the Brewers the lead and Capps his sixth blown save of the season.
Kottaras’ single completed the Brewers’ comeback from a 7-0 deficit in the fourth. The seven-run lead is tied for the fourth-largest blown lead in Minnesota history, and the last time the Twins had blown a seven-run lead was June 10, 2001, against the Pirates, when they led 8-1 and eventually lost 11-8.
“Definitely, the biggest win of the year,” said Ryan Braun, who exited with a left calf strain in the eighth, setting up Kottaras for the go-ahead single. “Considering the way that we have been playing and the way the game was going, down 7-0. We tried to chip away and put ourselves in position to come back and win that game. It’s unbelievable.”
After he kept them guessing last week at Miller Park, the Twins had jumped all over Brewers lefty Chris Narveson early. Alexi Casilla got things started with a single and a run scored in the first inning, but Narveson really struggled in the third and fourth.
With one down, Cuddyer and Danny Valencia hit back-to-back home runs in the third, the first Twins to do so since Sept. 25, 2010, at Detroit. An inning later, Narveson got two quick groundouts before he ran into trouble, as the Twins plated four runs with two out in the fourth.
“We knew what we were facing, we just faced him last week,” Cuddyer said. “Half changeups, half heaters. That at-bat that I hit the home run, I was looking for the changeup. I got it and, fortunately, I didn’t miss it.”
Narveson left after 4 2/3 innings, having given up seven runs on 14 hits with two walks and just one strikeout. The last pitcher to allow that many hits in less than five innings was Mark Buehrle, who gave up 14 hits in 4 1/3 innings on Aug. 2, 2008, at Kansas City.
Twins starter Carl Pavano faced just one over the minimum through four scoreless innings, and gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 7 2/3 innings of work on the night.
“It’s tough. Matty is so solid. It’s just one of those things where it got away,” Pavano said. “Those guys battled back. You have to tip your cap at them.”
After giving up 15 runs on 25 hits earlier in the week to the Dodgers, the Twins looked to be on their way to a similar performance through four innings, with seven runs and 14 hits on the board.
Instead, the Brewers’ bullpen came in and shut them down, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings without giving up a hit.
“Very tough loss for us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Any time you get the ball in your closer’s hand and you lose, it’s really hard. Capps got the ball out and over the plate a few too many times.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
De La Rosa shines, gets no support from bats
MINNEAPOLIS — His third pitch of the game aside, Rubby De La Rosa was dominant on Wednesday against the Twins. But with no support from the offense, the Dodgers lost, 1-0, at Target Field.
Twins leadoff hitter Ben Revere crushed a 1-1 fastball from De La Rosa into the gap in right, cruising into third base with a standup triple. Revere then scored the game’s only run on a soft grounder back to the pitcher.
De La Rosa tossed a career-high seven innings, giving up just one run on six hits. He struck out four and allowed two walks.
“I was trying to get ahead and have them swing at the first pitch,” De La Rosa said through an interpreter.
De La Rosa fell behind in the count a number of times Wednesday — including the first four batters he faced — but he frequently followed a first-pitch ball with a strike. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said the biggest thing that De La Rosa did right was attacking the strike zone and limiting the number of walks.
Out of 95 pitches — not counting the intentional walk to Revere — De La Rosa threw 80 fastballs, mixing in just seven changeups and eight sliders.
The right-hander threw 69 strikes on the day, inducing eight swings and misses. In doing so, De La Rosa left quite an impression on the Twins.
“He made some of us look pretty bad at times,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “So that says a little bit about how much De La Rosa’s ball was moving.”
Only one Twins hitter — Revere — had more than one hit against De La Rosa. He also retired Minnesota in order the second time through the lineup.
“He’s more of a thrower than a pitcher at this point, but that’s kind of a compliment. He has great stuff, electric stuff,” said Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer, who grounded out three times against De La Rosa.
“He has a great fastball and could probably go out there and throw 95 percent fastballs and get guys out. The ball is moving all over the place, and once he figures out where it’s going on a consistent basis, he’ll be that much better.”
The Dodgers’ offense opened the game with three straight swinging strikeouts, and things did not get much better after that. Los Angeles managed just six hits and had more than one baserunner in an inning only once, with two singles in the second.
It was the eighth time this season the Dodgers were shut out, and their second 1-0 loss. The other came on May 17 against Josh Collmenter and the D-backs.
Entering Wednesday, the Dodgers had a National League-leading .281 team batting average. Even with that, the team has remained inconsistent, finishing with a 10-16 record in June.
“At times, it looks OK; at times, it doesn’t,” Mattingly said of the offense. “I think somebody told me before the game we were the best [hitting] team in baseball in June. I don’t know what that tells you, but [we’re] still not being able to put up enough runs to put wins together.”
Twins right-hander Scott Baker bounced back from a rough outing in Milwaukee over the weekend, striking out nine and walking one over 7 1/3 shutout innings. It was the third outing of seven or more innings by Baker in June.
In his last four trips to the hill, Baker is 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA and 30 strikeouts.
“I know he kind of likes to play with that fastball up in the zone,” Mattingly said. “That’s not necessarily a surprise, but it obviously looks good to hit. He’s able to pitch up there. He kind of changes planes, he’s got a good breaking ball it looks like, and for the most part, [he] throws strikes.”
All but one hit allowed by Baker was a single, with Matt Kemp’s sixth-inning double the only exception.
Kemp could have done more with the two-bagger, as he slowed around first, thinking he was out and even removing his helmet before replacing it and easing into second. He still advanced to third on his 22nd stolen base of the season, but James Loney could not drive him in.
After putting up 25 hits and 15 runs in the opening game of the series, the Dodgers managed just four runs and 13 hits in dropping the last two contests. With the loss Wednesday, they dropped to 10 games under .500 for the second time this season, but nonetheless remained positive after the game.
“We’re not frustrated,” Kemp said. “We have a lot of time left, we’re going to keep playing, keep battling, and we’re going to try our best to turn this thing around. We’ve got faith in ourselves.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Pavano struggles as Twins are swept by Brewers
MILWAUKEE — A six-game National League roadtrip finally ended on Sunday for the Twins, but not before their fifth straight loss, a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Brewers at Miller Park.
It was Minnesota’s seventh consecutive loss to Milwaukee, finalizing the Brewers’ second straight sweep of the Twins.
“I hear they’ve struggled a little bit offensively, but we don’t see it,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We see some pretty good hitters all the way up and down that lineup, to tell you the truth. Right now, I wish we struggled like they were struggling.”
In the first inning of the trip, the Twins’ offense looked pretty good, as it scored eight runs on nine hits on the way to its eighth straight victory. In the ensuing 53 innings, the Twins were outscored, 30-9.
Minnesota now sits nine games behind first-place Detroit.
“For us right now, because of the injuries, everything’s got to be going on all cylinders,” said Michael Cuddyer. “Our hitters have to pick up our pitchers, and our pitchers have to pick up the hitters. That’s the way that we went on our streak, and that’s the way we’re going to have to win. That’s it.”
Right-hander Carl Pavano got the win in a 9-2 victory over the Giants on Tuesday, but he couldn’t end the Twins’ losing skid on Sunday. After four scoreless innings, Pavano gave up five runs, including a two-run home run to Ryan Braun in the fifth and RBI doubles in the sixth by Jonathan Lucroy and Brewers starter Chris Narveson.
It all started with a triple to left field by Lucroy that could have been a double, if Jason Repko had fielded it cleanly. Pavano retired the next two batters, but Nyjer Morgan followed with an RBI single before Braun crushed an 0-1 pitch to right-center.
“He can really hit the ball, we’ve all known that for a long time,” Gardenhire said. “He covered that fastball pretty good. I think it was up just a little bit, but man, he hit the heck out of that ball.”
Pavano finished with five runs allowed on eight hits over six innings, with five strikeouts and one walk. He took his sixth loss of the season, despite recording his 1,000th career strikeout in the fifth inning.
“That’s a tough loss,” Pavano said. “My job today was to go out there and end this losing streak, and I wasn’t able to do that.”
Jim Thome, who pinch-hit in the seventh, reached a milestone of his own by recording his 1,637th RBI, putting him ahead of Ernie Banks for 28th on the all-time list.
In addition to helping his own cause at the plate, Narveson was impressive on the mound, giving up just two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts against two walks. Narveson improved to 5-5 on the season with a 4.42 ERA.
Not only did the Twins lose five of six games on the roadtrip, they also added two more injuries to the long list they had already compiled this season. The Twins have now used the disabled list 16 times this season for 13 players.
“It’s tough to go out there and win and even compete when you’re missing some of your best players,” Braun said. “I think when they get everybody back healthy, obviously, they’re a much better team.”
Of the nine hitters in the Opening Day lineup for the Twins, only three — Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia and Cuddyer — have avoided stints on the DL. Through 76 games this season, the Twins have used 39 players, including four catchers, four shortstops, five second basemen, six left fielders, five right fielders and 11 designated hitters.
But that doesn’t mean anyone is going to take it easy on the injury-plagued Twins.
“I don’t really care,” Brewers slugger Prince Fielder said. “That’s the team that’s out there, so you have to try to beat them.”
Gardenhire has also used 70 different batting orders and 66 different defensive lineups in 76 games. The most common of each has only been used three times.
When the Twins won 15 of 17 games earlier this month, they executed well, and it didn’t seem to matter who they put on the field. On this trip, they looked more like the Twins ballclub that was 20 games under .500 and 16 1/2 games back at the beginning of June.
Especially in Milwaukee, sloppy defense and mistakes cost the Twins. In their five straight losses, the Twins have committed seven errors, which allowed four unearned runs to score.
“It looked like we were chasing a mouse around out there,” Gardenhire said. “I hate sloppy baseball. … Those are plays you just have to make. And it just shows right up on the scoreboard when you don’t make ’em; all these runs start going up.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Blackburn’s gem gives Twins series win
MINNEAPOLIS — A lot of people will tell you that good pitching, or hitting, can be contagious. Nick Blackburn is not one of them.
Over the last four games, the performance of the Twins’ pitching staff might suggest otherwise. It was another fast-paced pitchers’ duel at Target Field on Thursday — the fourth in a row — and once again, the Twins came out on top, with a 1-0 victory.
Thanks to a solo home run by Michael Cuddyer and eight shutout innings from Blackburn, the Twins swept the rain-shortened series against the White Sox. Twins closer Matt Capps also pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since June 6 and his ninth of the season.
“Blackie was a great story today, threw the heck out of the ball,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “Good sinker, slider, he had it all — changeup — working. … A heck of a game.”
Blackburn followed up dominant performances by Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano with one of his own. The right-hander scattered seven hits over eight scoreless innings of work, with one strikeout, a walk and a hit batter. He needed just 95 pitches to get through eight, before the Twins called upon the bullpen to close out the game.
One of the keys for Blackburn was the aggressiveness of the White Sox at the plate, which he used to his advantage.
“No one is up there trying to work the count too much, a lot of first-pitch swingers and guys who kind of put it into play early in the at-bat,” Blackburn said. “When everything’s coming out of my hand pretty well, that can sometimes play into my advantage.”
After Baker allowed one run in a complete game on Saturday, Liriano followed by giving up one run over eight innings while flirting with both a perfect game and no-hitter on Sunday. Pavano followed with another complete game on Wednesday night, and Blackburn continued the trend with his performance.
Over the last four games, Twins starters have allowed just three runs over 34 innings of work, posting a 4-0 record with a 0.79 ERA. Blackburn improved to 6-4 on the season, while lowering his own ERA to 3.16.
Minnesota entered the game with a Major League-leading 1.94 ERA in June, and lowered it to 1.80 with Thursday’s shutout of the White Sox.
“It kind of reminds you of ’06 — that run that we had in ’06 where you felt like you were going to win,” Cuddyer said. “You felt like, no matter what, you were going to win the game. And all that is, is just confidence.
“You get that confidence and you start feeling like you can win every game, and that’s kind of how we feel right now.”
During that 2006 run, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen dubbed the Twins the “piranhas,” because they just kept coming after opposing teams again and again with bloopers and infield singles — with players like Jason Bartlett, Nick Punto and Luis Castillo.
Asked about what the 2011 Twins were, if the 2006 club was the piranhas, Guillen had a new label for the current Minnesota ballclub, which featured a speedy center fielder and two quick infielders batting 1-2-3 in Thursday’s lineup.
“These are the little sardines here,” Guillen said. “They are sardines … but they can play. That kid who is the leadoff guy … pretty good. When you’re missing [Justin] Morneau, [Joe] Mauer, [Jim] Thome and [Jason] Kubel and you’re still winning games, you have to give those guys credit.
“They never sit back and say ‘We’re missing the big boys.’ They continue to play. That’s the reason Gardy is the most underrated manager. … I think Gardy makes those guys play, and play right. He gets the most out of his players, and they will be in the pennant race.”
Shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka made his first start for the Twins since suffering a fractured left fibula on April 7 in New York, batting third behind Ben Revere and Alexi Casilla. Nishioka went 1-for-4 at the plate, singling in the eighth — while showing excellent range in the field and improved arm strength, though he was also credited with a sixth-inning error.
Leading off the bottom of the second inning, Cuddyer crushed a 2-2 fastball from lefty Mark Buehrle into the bullpen in left-center field. It was Cuddyer’s 10th home run of the season and his 27th RBI.
Buehrle gave up just the one run on three hits — two by Cuddyer — in seven innings, but took the loss.
In his career against Buehrle, Cuddyer is batting .344 with three home runs. His 33 hits are the most for Cuddyer against any pitcher. Cuddyer is batting .340 with five doubles, seven home runs, 22 RBIs and 11 walks in his last 28 games, dating back to May 14.
“I feel good right now,” Cuddyer said. “It’s all cyclical, you’ve got to ride those good times out. Right now is a good time — and fortunately, we were able to get wins to go along with it.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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