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Twins walk off on Valencia’s single in 10th
MINNEAPOLIS — Off the bat, there was no doubt that it was gone. Jason Kubel had crushed a 3-1 pitch deep into the seats in right field for the Twins walk-off victory.
“I thought Kubel’s was going to be in the upper deck,” said Twins third baseman Danny Valencia, who eventually beat the Royals, 4-3, with a walk-off single in the 10th inning on Tuesday. “Honestly, he crushed it.”
But this is Target Field, and the wind was blowing in. So a sure upper-deck home run turned into a long fly out to the warning track. That is, until Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur dropped it. Then it was a race to second and third base to avoid a forceout.
Baseball can be crazy like that sometimes.
“I thought it was going to be a home run off the bat, so I get halfway out there and I see Francoeur’s about to catch it, and he does catch it, so then we run back to the bag,” said right fielder Michael Cuddyer, who was on first with Kubel at the plate.
“Then he drops it, so then you’ve got to go, and it was just a crazy play. Fortunately, I was able to beat the throw by a half a step.”
The question is, what part of the play is craziest?
Is it that Kubel hit the ball hard enough to reach the upper deck and ended up with a single due to the wind and size of the ballpark, or is that Francoeur caught what should have been a home run, only to drop it and complicate things even further?
“I caught it. It was in my glove,” Francoeur said. “I didn’t think I had a chance and I started running it down and kept going. I caught it and it was in my glove and then I hit the wall and it just kind of popped out. I just couldn’t hang on. That was the frustrating part.”
Once everything had been sorted out with that play, the game was still tied, and Valencia was at the plate. Behind 1-2 in the count, the third baseman drove a fastball away to the opposite field, driving in the run for the victory.
Valencia nearly cost the Twins the game an inning earlier after not being aggressive enough on the basepaths. On first after drawing a walk, Valencia advanced only one base on Jim Thome’s pinch-hit single with one out.
One batter later, Denard Span flew out deep to center field, and had Valencia advanced to third, he could have scored on a sacrifice fly for the win.
“He’s got to be on third base,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “There’s no doubt. He’s not the kind of guy I’ve got to start pinch-running for, he’s got to run for himself.
“He has to be aggressive on the bases, and he needed to get to third base on that play, there’s no doubt. And he knows that, I told him.”
Of course, none of that would have mattered had it not been for the impressive performance of the Twins’ bullpen.
In the offseason, one of the Twins’ biggest question marks was whether the bullpen would be deep enough after several relievers left Minnesota through free agency. That answer, through 10 games, has been a resounding ‘yes.’
After an ugly start to the seventh inning had the Twins on the verge of letting the game get out of hand quickly, the bullpen came in and slammed the door shut long enough for the offense to pull out the win.
“Our bullpen did a great job tonight,” Valencia said. “An unbelievable job.”
Everything was going well early on for the Twins. They had a lead, they had scored runs early in the ballgame, and one of their best hitters, Cuddyer, finally broke out of his season-opening slump with a 4-for-4 night.
Then the seventh inning happened. Things went wrong in a hurry for Minnesota in the frame, but some impressive pitching from Jose Mijares and Matt Capps kept things from getting out of control.
“The bottom line is, I’ve got to get the guy at the plate out,” Capps said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
A seemingly harmless grounder to third turned into an infield single after Valencia’s throw went wide of first base. The sacrifice bunt that followed became a two-base error as left-hander Brian Duensing airmailed Justin Morneau at first base.
Then, a hard grounder up the middle, which glanced off the hand and leg of Duensing, tied the game. As he left, the starter was more worried about his poor throw to first than the pain from the hard grounder back to the mound.
“I was really upset with myself because of the airmail that I did to first base,” Duensing said. “But I put the team in a situation that could’ve cost us the ballgame, and for Mijares and Capps to come in and shut the door like they did, it does nothing but fire you up.”
With the game tied, runners on the corners and none out, Duensing was pulled in favor of Mijares, who promptly struck out left fielder Alex Gordon. That was all for Mijares, as Capps entered and got Billy Butler to pop out to short before striking out Francoeur looking.
Capps pitched 1 2/3 innings and did not allow a hit, Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth, and Dusty Hughes finished things off with a clean 10th for the win over his former club. Twins relievers retired the last 12 batters of the game.
“A hard-fought game,” Gardenhire said. “Our bullpen did a super job coming in and getting us out of 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.
Baker, Twins unable to solve A’s in finale
MINNEAPOLIS — After a couple of pitchers’ duels in the first two games between the Twins and A’s, the bats finally came alive in Sunday’s series finale. Unfortunately for the home crowd, the Twins’ outburst came too late in a 5-3 loss.
The Twins hit the ball as well as they have all season, collecting 10 hits in the game, but aside from a big eighth inning, they were never able to string any hits together.
“They were spread out pretty thin,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’ve just got to get swinging better. It’s frustrating for the guys, but we kept battling, and at least we had a look in the last inning there.”
Jim Thome provided the highlight of the game for the Twins in the eighth, driving a 1-0 pitch from reliever Jerry Blevins out deep to center field for a two-run homer that cut the lead to 5-3. Estimated at 444 feet, the blast was the 590th of Thome’s career, and certainly one of the longest.
With the two RBI, Thome passed Harold Baines for 29th on baseball’s all-time list with 1,629 for his career. But it didn’t mean a whole lot to the left-handed slugger without the win.
“I wish it had tied the game,” Thome said. “You want to win the ballgame, that’s the most important thing.”
Even so, Thome’s teammates were impressed by the blast.
“It was a bomb,” said Michael Cuddyer, who played second base Sunday for the Twins. “I think I’ve seen two balls in BP go over the batter’s eye, and obviously that was the first one to go over in a game. The guy never ceases to amaze you, that’s for sure.”
While the Twins struggled to score runs in the first two games of the series, their pitching kept them in it, as Carl Pavano and Nick Blackburn delivered strong performances against the A’s. On Sunday, right-hander Scott Baker didn’t quite get the job done, making the offensive struggles even more troublesome.
Baker (0-2) struggled to keep the ball in the park for the second straight outing, giving up four runs on seven hits over five-plus innings, including a pair of towering home runs.
Those struggles began in the fourth, when Baker surrendered a leadoff home run to A’s designated hitter Hideki Matsui. Baker looked to be back in control until Josh Willingham crushed a 2-2 pitch into the second deck in left field to lead off the sixth inning.
Ryan Sweeney and Mark Ellis followed with a single and double, respectively, prompting Gardenhire to go to his bullpen. Reliever Jeff Manship was not much better, however, as he walked the first batter he faced and gave up a sacrifice fly to center field before a Landon Powell double chased him from the game.
“It happens pretty quick,” Baker said of the game slipping away from him. “I was a couple pitches away from having a decent outing. Obviously, the line doesn’t look great, but I made some pitches when I needed to. I just fell a little short.”
The two teams had combined for just four runs through the first two games of the series at Target Field, with neither team collecting an RBI in Saturday’s game. On Sunday, the A’s put up four runs in the sixth inning alone on their way to taking the series from the Twins.
Baker was outdueled by A’s starter Brandon McCarthy, who was impressive over 7 1/3 innings of work. For the third straight game, the Twins simply could not manage much offense against the A’s starting pitching, as McCarthy struck out five batters while scattering nine hits and allowing two runs.
Oakland’s starters entered Sunday with the second-lowest ERA in baseball and the lowest in the American League at 2.47, having allowed just 15 earned runs over 54 2/3 innings. In the series, Twins hitter were kept off balance, as all three A’s starters used great breaking balls to get outs.
“All three of these guys dove the ball hard with their snapper and made it really tough on us,” Gardenhire said. “They showed some good control with their breaking balls and then located the fastball pretty decently. We saw that with all three pitchers we faced this series. It kind of made it tough on us. That’s a good staff over there, one of the better ones you’ll see.”
Aside from Thome’s eighth-inning homer, one of the few bright spots in the game for the Twins was the 3-for-4 performance by first baseman Justin Morneau. With a pair of bloop singles and a double, Morneau posted his first three-hit game since June 23, 2010, boosting his batting average from .185 to .258.
Even with 10 hits in the game, the Twins are hitting just .214 (63-for-295) for the season. Thome’s home run was the first for the Twins since April 3 at Toronto, breaking a 210-at-bat homerless streak.
After an off-day Monday, the Twins hope to use the late success they had in this game and build upon it to get the offense back on track.
“Sometimes you come one day and it all clicks in,” Thome said. “Next thing you know, you’re scoring runs earlier in the ballgame and winning some games. And that’s where we need to get back to. We’ve got a lot of good hitters. Our hitters, everybody’s very talented, we just need to get rockin’ and rollin’ here.”
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 beat, 4/8
Oliva honored during Twins’ home opener
MINNEAPOLIS — Fifty years ago, Tony Oliva left Cuba for the United States to join the Minnesota Twins. On Friday, a bronze statue in Oliva’s likeness was unveiled outside Gate 6 at Target Field.
Oliva, 72, played all 15 years of his career with the Twins, and remained involved with the organization as a mentor to many players. More recently, Oliva was involved in the process of getting the new Twins ballpark built.
“This gate is symbolically numbered for the Twins player who made the unforgettable journey from Cuba nearly half a century ago, and fortunately for all of us, he never left,” said Twins broadcaster John Gordon as he opened the ceremony. “His journey to the big leagues was in fact a blazed trail, and that trail became a populated path for many other great baseball players in an era when this sport became more than just America’s pastime.”
Among those joining Oliva for the ceremony were fellow Twins greats Kent Hrbek, Juan Berenguer and Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who was Oliva’s roommate during their time together in Minnesota.
Additional Opening Day festivities at Target Field included the raising of the 2010 American League Central Division Championship flag by Twins first-base coach Jerry White, a flyover and fireworks.
Oliva also threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Twins home opener to Casey Killebrew, grandson of Harmon Killebrew. Originally scheduled to throw out the first pitch, Killebrew was unable to make the trip to Minnesota due to a conflict with his treatment schedule for esophageal cancer.
“Fifty years ago tomorrow I left Cuba,” Oliva said. “I never dreamed that some day I would be in front of this ballpark next to a statue of me. It’s hard to believe.
“I’d like to thank the Minnesota Twins organization … for giving me the opportunity to play baseball and be with the organization over 50 years. And maybe 50 more to come.”
Morneau returns to action at Target Field
MINNEAPOLIS — Nine months, four days. That’s how long Twins first baseman Justin Morneau went between games played at Target Field before starting Friday’s home opener.
When the day finally came, Morneau was happy to be back in front of the home fans for the first time since July 4, 2010. Judging by the applause he received during pregame introductions, they were thrilled to have him, too.
“I’m sure it’s exciting for him. It’s exciting for all of us, because we’ve been traveling a lot,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “So Mornie is happy to be on the field. He got a lot of that stuff out of the way on the road, so hopefully he can just come home and flow right into it.”
Morneau collected his 1,000th hit on an infield single his first at-bat.
With the way Morneau and the Twins swung the bats on their season opening road trip, they’re looking to get things going a bit more offensively at home. As a team, the Twins entered the game batting .201 (40-for-199).
“We ran into some tough pitching, but with that home cooking, everybody’s happy to be home,” Morneau said. “It seemed like we were on the road for about a month, so it’s nice to get home and get into our routine and all the rest. Hopefully it turns into some wins.”
Cuddyer’s versatility helps Twins at second
MINNEAPOLIS — With Tsuyoshi Nishioka sidelined by a fractured left fibula, the Minnesota Twins have a number of options for replacing the rookie second baseman. One of those options may come as a bit of a surprise to some fans.
Opening Day right fielder Michael Cuddyer took ground balls Friday at second base, giving manager Ron Gardenhire another option at the position. Not only that, it allows him to get a couple more big bats in the lineup.
“We’ll mix and match at second base,” Gardenhire said. “I want options and Michael is one of those options. If I can get Michael in at second, it gives [Jason] Kubel and [Jim] Thome in the lineup. It’ll create some offense. Michael will play anywhere, and we’ve talked about it.”
Playing multiple positions is nothing new for Cuddyer. In 2010, he saw action at first base, second base, third base, right field and center field for the Twins.
While he played just nine innings over two games at second base the last two seasons, Cuddyer has logged 62 games there since 2003. In ’04, Cuddyer started 40 games at second, committing just three errors in 170 chances.
“Me going over there, if need be, just gives Gardy one more option,” Cuddyer said. “I’m comfortable enough to go out there and play.”
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