Brandon Warne

Please click through to Zone Coverage here to read this entire story. Thursday’s win was a strange one for the Minnesota Twins. They came from behind to tie the game in the fifth inning, only to have closer Matt Belisle give up the go-ahead home run in the ninth. They bunted -- oh, they bunted -- to no avail in both the eighth and ninth innings. And yet despite all that -- they won. They won their 20th game of the month of August, wrapping up a sweep against a torpedoing White Sox club for the Twins’ first 20-win month since May 2015. And that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg as far as the weirdness that won the game. Newly-minted White Sox closer Juan Minaya came on in the ninth to try protect a 4-3 lead after Alen Hanson homered to the right field flower pots in the top half of the inning. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza, but got the first out when Zack Granite’s bunt was popped up to catcher Rob Brantly. Brian Dozier followed with a walk, and Eddie Rosario golfed a game-tying single into right, plating Adrianza and moving Dozier -- the winning run -- to third. Then Joe Mauer walked to load the bases. Jorge Polanco -- perhaps the most unlikely cleanup hitter in the league -- attempted to ambush the first pitch he saw from Minaya, but managed to hit just a dying quail of a liner that would still have won the game if not for the pitcher’s keen reflexes. That set up a do-or-die situation between Minaya and Twins right fielder Max Kepler, and fans didn’t have to wait long for resolution, as the righty’s first-pitch slider to Kepler clipped him on top of the foot, sending the Twins dugout out to mob him and 21,288 fans playing weekday hooky home happy with a 5-4 walk-off -- or rather, limp-off -- win. “No, there’s not,” Kepler said to Fox Sports North sideline reporter Audra Martin when asked if there was a better way to cap a series. “I’m not going to focus on all the aspects (for a 20-win month); I’m just trying to keep it simple.”

Please go to Zone Coverage here to read this story in full. The Minnesota Twins came into Wednesday night with a 68-63 record. It might not mean much, but the 1987 Twins also headed into Aug. 30 with an identical record, en route to the first World Series in the franchise’s post-Washington D.C. tenure. That 1987 team also caught fire late in the season, including perhaps most notably going 16-11 in September. In an era where only two teams from each league made the postseason, that 85-win club did the unthinkable — not only sneaking into the postseason but upsetting the heavily-favored Tigers. Until the 83-win St. Louis Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, the ‘87 Twins stood as the team with the worst regular-season record to win it all. Might 85 wins be enough to make the postseason again this year? Most of the projections seem to think so, albeit as a first or second Wild Card. Nevertheless, the parallels don’t stop there. “They’re so hot here, it’s unbelievable,” said Seattle Mariners first baseman Alvin Davis in a pregame interview at the Metrodome on Aug. 16, 1987. “I can’t believe the difference between the team we played in Seattle and the team we’re playing here. Last night in the first inning, they looked like sharks — they really did — in a pool of blood.” “They’re like sharks in a feeding frenzy!” said Mariners color commentator Rick Rizzs as Kent Hrbek launched a mammoth home run into the upper deck in center field at the Metrodome against Mariners reliever Scott Bankhead. The Twins scored 14 runs in that drubbing, including eight in the first inning — the one referred to by Davis in his quote — off starter Lee Guetterman and reliever Mike Brown as well as three more off Bankhead in the second. The Twins finished off a four-game sweep of the Mariners, and were on their way to the postseason. Similarly, this Twins offense has been red-hot, and is showing no signs of stopping after an 11-1 win over the Chicago White Sox at Target Field on Wednesday night. Jose Berrios followed Ervin Santana’s magic show Tuesday night with one of his own, and it looks like Nos. 1 and 2 in the Twins rotation are catching fire when the team needs them most. “It was a really good game,” manager Paul Molitor said. “I think Jose had one of his better games. He’s thrown some impressive ones along the way, but when you think about command and being able to put guys away with strikeouts. I think he got stronger, and didn’t want to come out of the game after seven. But after the long inning and the score getting spread out, we went ahead and got him out.” The Twins showed little regard for White Sox starter Derek Holland, who less than a week ago had stymied them for just one earned run on three hits over six innings. That had been Holland’s first good start in quite some time, as he’d posted ERA marks in excess of 9.00 in each of the last three months coming into Wednesday’s start.

Please click through to Zone Coverage here to read this in its entirety. Greetings from Target Field, where it’s overcast and very warm as the Minnesota Twins prepare for game two of a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. It’ll be righty Jose Berrios (4.04 ERA, 3.99 FIP in 111.1 innings) on the mound for the Twins, while the White Sox will counter with lefty Derek Holland (6.05 ERA, 6.40 FIP in 129.1 innings). More on that in a bit. Tuesday night’s win guaranteed the Twins victory in the season series, as they moved to 10-7 with just two games remaining between them and the White Sox. The Twins have more wins against the White Sox than any other team this season -- that isn’t terribly shocking given the schedule’s tilt to divisional play -- but they’ve also beaten the Royals eight times (8-4) and they have six wins against the Indians (6-10). The Twins also have a chance to double their win total from July. They went 10-15 in July, and with a sweep of the White Sox would finish with a 20-10 mark in August. The Twins haven’t had a 20-win month since May 2015 (20-7), and only won 17 games combined between August and September last season.

Please click here to read this story in its entirety at Zone Coverage. Players Weekend is over and it went by without Ervin Santana throwing a single pitch. He still stood true to his jersey nickname on Tuesday night at Target Field, however, as for five innings he performed Magic in a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. It was a nice bounce-back performance for Santana, if that’s what you’d like to call it. The Twins lost his last start 4-3 at Guaranteed Rate field on Wednesday -- also a Santana-James Shields matchup -- but the lanky righty tossed seven innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. Facing the same offense the second time in a row, Santana backed it up 6.2 innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks. In all, it capped a terrific month of August for Santana. In all, the righty made six starts over the month, pitching to a 2.95 ERA with just 34 hits allowed and 42 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. While that ERA pales in comparison to what Santana did over the first two months of the season, it’s worth noting that it appears he’s gotten his second wind. Santana posted a 6.03 ERA in June and followed it up with a 4.68 mark in July as the Twins went just 4-7 in his starts over that stretch. The offensive star of the night on the Twins side was Jorge Polanco, who continued his torrid August by becoming just the fifth player in team history to homer from both sides of the plate. In doing so, Polanco joined Kennys Vargas, Ryan Doumit, Chili Davis and Roy Smalley -- who was in the Fox Sports North booth doing color commentary -- as the only Twins to reach that feat. "Not too many guys in the history of this franchise have done that," manager Paul Molitor said. "So that was impressive." Polanco himself hasn't done it any level either, he said after the game. "No I haven't," Polanco told Fox Sports North sideline reporter Marney Gellner. "It's the first time."

It’s sunny and warm at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins prepare to open a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox. It’ll be a pair of righties doing battle, as the Twins send Ervin Santana (3.24 ERA, 4.66 FIP in 169.1 innings) to the mound to tangle with James Shields (5.63 ERA, 6.13 FIP in 80 innings) of the White Sox. This will be the second matchup in a row between the pitchers, with the White Sox beating the Twins 4-3 last Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field. More on that in a bit. The Twins announced on Tuesday that Joe Nathan will formally announce his retirement in a press conference on Friday at Target Field. He’ll be joined by Thad Levine — who was an executive during Nathan’s time with the Texas Rangers — and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday night. He’ll also be honored with a video tribute put together by the team. Nathan spent seven seasons with the Twins, saving 260 games with a 2.16 ERA and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. He finished his career with 377 saves, with all but one coming either with the Twins or after he departed. Nathan played two seasons in Texas, two in Detroit and split time between the Cubs and Giants last season before going to spring training with the Nationals this season. Nathan struck out nine batters in 11.2 innings with the Nationals in spring training, opted out of his deal and resigned a minor-league deal with the team before he was released from Triple-A Syracuse at the end of May. Please click through to Zone Coverage here to read the rest of this article.

If I find it, I will. I haven't seen that list yet. If someone else has, feel free.

Yes, Santana will get a qualifying offer. For the rest of this, are you sure you're thinking of the upcoming CBA? http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/new-cba-changes-draft/#7DoLL7a1oCzpZM30.97

I literally do not know what you're talking about here.

The article addresses that. He's only going to cost a third-round pick.

? The link is pretty clear on that.

Maybe 3 plus an option. OBP guys tend to age well, though.

The Minnesota Twins are certainly still in the thick of things in the Wild Card race, but it’s never too early to look to the offseason to get a feel for what the team might do to improve. In fact, there could be a lot of moves as the team looks to reframe itself in the images of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, as we’ve already seen a personnel purge in the scouting and analytics departments with more to come. That could even include at the top, with manager Paul Molitor working on the last year of his deal without an extension in hand. But we aren’t here to speculate on Molitor’s future, and we also won’t include the potential for any trades. Those things are just too complicated and intricate to muddle in, and we’re just here to have a little fun. Let’s first take a look at the shell of who is likely to return to the Twins next year, and take a peak at some of the open roster spots to see where we’ll be filling players in. Starting Lineup C - Jason Castro 1B - Joe Mauer 2B - Brian Dozier 3B - Miguel Sano SS - Jorge Polanco LF - Eddie Rosario CF - Byron Buxton RF - Max Kepler DH - OPEN In other words, really only the spot at designated hitter is open. Robbie Grossman has done a respectable job (101 wRC+), but is better suited as a bench bat who can help in the corners or late in games as a pinch-hitter when getting a batter on base is a necessity. This has the potential to be a really, really good offense. In theory, you could sign Zack Cozart to play shortstop, but I’d be wary of the contract-year breakout with him. DH Addition Candidates Carlos Santana, Indians Santana would provide a huge lift to the Twins as a leadoff hitter. He takes a ton of walks and still has plenty of pop to spare, and can still be mixed in at first base as well. Getting on base in front of Dozier and friends 220-250 times per year could result in a ton of runs scored, and it just gives the lineup more depth overall. He has no platoon split to speak of, which means he can hit lefties (.813 career OPS) which is something this team desperately needs. He also has the Falvey familiarity factor. Don’t sleep on this connection. He’ll be 32 in April, but if he’ll sign a four-year deal, do it. The qualifying offer price for a free agent like Santana won’t be that steep. Best as yours truly can understand, it would only cost the Twins a third-round pick to sign Santana if the Indians give him a qualifying offer -- something they’ll almost certainly do. Please click through to Zone Coverage here to read the article in full.

Believe what you want. I've talked to enough guys who don't like him at all.

Yeah, it's Danny Valencia and he's widely hated around the league.

The one I quoted in my story saw him this season.

Following Tuesday night’s 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins designated right-handed pitcher Tim Melville for assignment. That opened up a spot on the 40-man roster, and it sure sounds like right-handed reliever John Curtiss will be getting the call, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger first reported which was shortly followed by a report from Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Twins have yet to confirm the move, though Curtiss is expected to join the team in Chicago on Wednesday. Curtiss has been absolutely brilliant in the Twins system this season. First, he tossed 25 innings for Double-A Chattanooga with a 0.72 ERA (two earned runs) with 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a WHIP of 0.96. He followed that up with a mid-June promotion to Triple-A Rochester, where it was more of the same with a 1.85 ERA, 12.2 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.86. For the rest of this story, please click through to Zone Coverage here.

Tend to agree, honestly.

Reed and Curtiss are not on the 40-man roster. I don't recall what September does options-wise for Gonsalves.

On Sept. 1 in MLB, rosters expand. For the entire month, teams can bring up and use any player on the 40-man roster. The usage of this is varied, as some teams will empty out their minors and stock their clubhouse and dugout. Others will simply bring up some pinch-runner types and an extra bullpen arm or two. It all depends on the team’s goals for the season and the construction of their rosters -- both 25- and 40-man. Some teams have more MLB-ready players on their 40’s than others, while others have some younger project-type players who the team just as soon would not want to promote and expose and/or pay an MLB daily salary to. It’s been awhile since the Twins were terribly good heading into September to the point where they were fine-tuning for the playoffs, and that’s frankly not the case this season, either. Most likely, the Twins will bring up any players they think can help them toward the goal of at least one of the Wild Card spots, if not chasing down Cleveland for the division crown in the final days of the season. And while the proverbial floodgates can open as early as Sept. 1, teams don’t like to leave their minor-league clubs playing shorthanded. For instance, the Rochester Red Wings are not only the current Wild Card team in the International League with a three-game lead over Lehigh Valley, but their regular-season schedule doesn’t end until Sept. 4 against Pawtucket. Thus, if the Red Wings miss the postseason, the mass exodus of players to Minneapolis would most likely start on Sept. 5. Either way, here are the players we think the Twins will bring up whenever the time is right next month: Mitch Garver - C/1B/OF Obviously he’s already up, but what we’re saying here is that he’s almost certain to stay up for the rest of the season. Without the injury to Robbie Grossman, Garver most likely finishes out the season at Triple-A Rochester before coming up. Now, with the timeline for recovery for Grossman likely stretching into September, Garver should be up for the duration, working in mostly at DH or first base with some reps in the outfield. As much as he’s caught this season, it’s difficult to ease a catcher into things this deep into the season on the big-league roster. We saw how Juan Centeno’s trial-by-fire went last year, and he was supposed to be a good catch-and-throw guy as well. Running mate Chris Gimenez raves about Garver’s improvement even since this spring, but he probably won’t catch much, if at all the rest of the way. Please click through here to read the rest of this article on ZoneCoverage.com.

The Twins were in a festive mood on Friday night. They honored Rod Carew by showing heart after being down 3-0 just two innings into the game. They also honored his offensive pedigree by pounding out 17 hits. The offense also provided some in-game fireworks prior to the customary postgame ones that happen every Friday at Target Field. What it all added up to was 10 unanswered runs — including seven over the final three innings — in a 10-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Target Field on Friday night. The Twins have beaten the Diamondbacks three straight times dating back to 2014 — some of the last games current Arizona bench coach Ron Gardenhire managed in Minnesota — and did so despite digging an early hole. “It was an extremely, extremely fun baseball game,” manager Paul Molitor said. “Ervin had a little rough start there, and you could tell the frustration (he was feeling). I’m not sure what his highest average velocity is for a single game, but he ramped it up there after the first couple innings. He settled in there and did a nice job for us and gave us an opportunity to come back.” Front and center for the Twins in the win was Byron Buxton, who came up a single shy of hitting for the cycle, and was denied that chance in the seventh inning when his line drive went right into the teeth of the Diamondbacks defensive shift, and was snared by second baseman Daniel Descalso. Buxton was also just two hitters away when Eddie Rosario made the final out of the eighth inning, leaving Buxton to settle for his fifth three-hit game of the season. One of those hits was undoubtedly the most exciting of the game, and it brought the Twins back to even at three runs apiece. Just two innings after tripling into the left-center gap, Buxton again terrorized his center field counterpart A.J. Pollock by driving the ball deep to the other gap against Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley, who came into the game with an ERA below 3.00. Pollock, who wasn’t going to be playing the field in the original lineup until J.D. Martinez was scratched with an illness, overran the carom off the wall in right-center, and that was all Buxton needed to motor around for the second inside-the-park home run of his career. Please click over to Zone Coverage here for the rest of this story.

It’s warm and overcast as the Minnesota Twins prepare to open a three-game interleague series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’ll be righty Zack Godley (2.95 ERA, 3.17 FIP in 106.2 innings) going for the Diamondbacks, with Ervin Santana (3.28 ERA, 4.71 FIP in 156.1 innings) taking the ball for the Twins. More on that in a bit. This will be the first regular-season meeting between the Twins and Diamondbacks since Sept. 22-24, 2014 — also at Target Field. The Twins the last two games of the series, as Kyle Gibson beat Andrew Chafin 6-3 and Phil Hughes beat Vidal Nuno 2-1. Jared Burton got the save in the final game. The Twins manager that year was Ron Gardenhire, who returned to Target Field for the first time as an opposing coach on Friday. In fact, Gardenhire only managed four more games for the Twins before the end of the 2014 season, when he was let go. He’s now the bench coach for the Diamondbacks, and looks good as he’s lost weight independent of his treatment for prostate cancer. He’s doing well health-wise — he had some bloodwork done on Friday and the results came back good — and the team he’s coaching is behind only the blazing-hot Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. Please click through to Zone Coverage to read the rest of this story here.

Robbie Grossman’s swinging strikeout against Nick Goody to end the first game of Thursday's doubleheader was the icing on a very frustrating cake for the Minnesota Twins. Not only did it cap a 9-3 loss to push the Twins back to .500, but also sealed a dubious team record as the 19th time a Twin had struck out against Indians pitching. In fact, most of the game was emblematic of the Twins’ recent pursuit of the Indians in the standings. The Indians didn’t play particularly well all day, and let the Twins hang around almost all afternoon despite a litany of miscues. The Indians kept the Twins at arm’s length for the entire nine innings before busting loose for six runs over the final two innings to seal the deal and improve to 66-52 on the season. The loss also dropped the Twins to 0-9 against the Indians at Target Field in 2017. The trouble started -- like it tends to -- for the Twins and especially Kyle Gibson in the first inning. The tall righty allowed a pair of earned runs in the opening frame, but was lucky it wasn’t more as the Tribe loaded the bases with nobody out before settling for a two-run single from Jay Bruce and nothing else. “They fouled off a lot of pitches,” Gibson said. “I think in that first inning, I was probably 1-2 on almost everybody. I didn’t have many first-pitch strikes, but I got to two strikes on a lot of those guys, but they hit some balls where guys weren’t, unfortunately.” Please click through to Zone Coverage for the rest of this story here.

It looks as though Twins fans may finally get their wish, as Mitch Garver is headed to the big leagues according to Ray Birmingham. https://twitter.com/BirminghamRay/status/898395795552063488 Birmingham is the head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobos baseball team, where Garver played from 2010-13 before the Minnesota Twins took him in the ninth round of the 2013 draft. UPDATE: Garver's mother has also retweeted the original tweet. UPDATE II: Gail also tweeted that they'll be in Minneapolis for tomorrow's game, and that Mitch's wife is already here on rotations (work?). The Twins have not yet announced a move, nor a corresponding move which will most likely be Robbie Grossman to the disabled list with a broken thumb. The Twins added Garver to the 40-man roster over the offseason, and he has responded in a big way by hitting .291/.387/.541 with the Red Wings while playing mostly catcher (67 games) but also some at first base (five games) and even in left field (14 games). Please click through to Zone Coverage for the full story here.

Fair. It was before last night's start, too.

For three innings Tuesday night at Target Field, Bartolo Colon was a veritable Harry Houdini. The 44-year-old righty worked in and out of danger, and was staked to a 1-0 lead before allowing three solo home runs over a two-inning span on the way to an 8-1 loss to Danny Salazar and the Cleveland Indians in front of nearly 30,000 fans at Target Field. The loss sent the Twins to a stunning 0-8 against the Indians at home this season. The Twins are 5-1 against Cleveland at Progressive Field this season, however. Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis and Edwin Encarnacion issued the gut punches that sent Colon to the showers after just five spotty innings, with Austin Jackson and Santana again adding long balls later in the game as Cleveland scored all eight of its runs on the night via the home run. Santana homered from both sides of the plate for the second time this season and fifth time in his career. The second home run was also his 14th at Target Field — tying him with Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays for most as a visiting player at the park since its inception in 2010. Salazar was absolutely brilliant for the Indians, and has been since returning from the disabled list five starts ago after battling a shoulder injury. Salazar fanned 10 Twins batters and walked none, his second double-digit strikeout game in his last three outings and the third time in a row he’s allowed just one earned run. In his five starts since returning, Salazar has allowed just five earned runs (1.39 ERA). “He threw the ball well,” manager Paul Molitor said of Salazar after the game. “He had some of our guys looking a bit confused. He had a combination of good velocity and location. He’s always had that good changeup.” The only damage Salazar really allowed came in the second inning, as Eddie Rosario hit a booming double into the right field corner and scampered home on a two-out single off the bat of Byron Buxton. That gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. The next Twin to reach base did not come until Max Kepler doubled to the right-center gap in the sixth — when the team trailed by a 3-1 margin. Please click through to Zone Coverage here to read the story in full!