Tom Froemming

You win some, you lose some and sometimes you get your butt kicked. Monday night’s game would fall into the third category, though the score was 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Not a good look tonight, but regardless, the Twins still hold the second American League Wild Card spot.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot94.png The offense could muster only five hits and Jose Berrios gave up five runs over 5.0 innings. To be fair, the score was just 3-1 when Berrios was removed from the game. Things really fell apart once the bullpen took over. It took five different relievers to get through the final three innings. Yep, must be September. It’s really funny how pitching stats work out sometimes. In the box score, Buddy Boshers gave up zero earned runs over 0.1 innings, but he came in and gave up a massive two-run single that increased Tampa’s lead to 6-1 before recording the final out of that inning. One big difference between earlier in the year and now is that when the Twins are losing big, early in the season that typically meant we’d get to see Chris Gimenez pitch. Now, it means we get to see Glen Perkins pitch. He walked the first two batters he faced before getting a groundout and maxed out at 90.9 mph tonight. Both those runners eventually came around to score after Perkins had been lifted for Tyler Duffey. There was a bit of a scary moment in this one, as Mitch Garver was involved in a collision at home plate with Steve Souza Jr., who is 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. That’s not supposed to happen anymore right? Yes, but sometimes two guys are just in the same place at the same time. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen94.png Looking Ahead Tue: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Tampa Bay (Jake Odorizzi), 6:10 pm CT Wed: Twins (Aaron Slegers) at Tampa Bay(Blake Snell), 12:10 pm CT Thu: Twins (Kyle Gibson) at Kansas City (Sam Gaviglio), 7:15 pm CT Looking Back KC 5, MIN 4: What Even Is A Swing, Anyway? MIN 17, KC 0: What Negative Run Differential? KC 7, MIN 6: Oh, So Close Click here to view the article

I love this. Thank you for the kind words. I have a few things to add. I understand if people had written off Puckett's Pond. It seemed for a really long time the content there was inconsistent. But I gotta tell you, Benjamin Chase is The Truth. I had caught some of his minors stuff at FanSided before he joined PP, so I was really excited about him covering the Twins more in depth. He has not disappointed. Puckett's Pond is alive and in good hands. Also, Myjah deserves a lot more credit than she gets. Those inconsistency issues at PP haven't been prevalent at Twinkie Town because she's been there steering the ship. Just took a look at her SB Nation profile. Looks like she has over 1,400 articles. She also has over 32,000 comments. Holy crap. There's no denying TT leads the town in fun. There's something to be said for that. Lastly, Matt Anderson's @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter is great. Really interesting little Twins history lessons and super awesome pics old baseball cards.

I wasn't sure I should weight in on this (no pun intended), but here goes nothing ... I would assume if I reached out to the Twins they would issue me a press pass. This has nothing to do with me personally and everything to do with Twins Daily's sterling reputation. Then why don't I? Well, clearly it's because I'm a coward afraid to show my face in the clubhouse, right? Nope. It's because they won't let me wear my kimono in the press box and Target Field doesn't have a Cinnabon. Seriously though, the amount of extra time covering games in person would require would far outweigh (there I go again) the amount of value that would add to anything I write. Are there different questions I'd ask than the regular writers? Yeah, probably. Would those questions get valuable answers? Probably not very often. Yes, I've interviewed professional athletes. You can only get as much as they're willing to give you, and there are a lot of reasons why they may not want to give great answers your questions. If you're a pitcher, would you really want to explain in detail how you plan to attack hitters? Of course not. The same thing applies to some managerial decisions. Will they give you some juicy stuff off the record once you've earned some trust? That's more likely, as is evidence by Souhan's original column. Would I want to use that stuff? No. So what's the point? But more than anything I don't want to be at the stadium late every night because I have a full-time job, a wife and a one-year-old daughter. And a social life ... ok, that last one is a lie (you know us bloggers and our lies). One last thing I'd like to say is if this stuff bothers you, then just don't read Souhan. Or, you know what, just avoid the Strib altogether. Mike Berardino over at the Pioneer Press is the best beat writer anyway. He's also very good on social media and seems like a good dude (though I've never met him, since he's never been to my basement).

The Twins ended up on the short end of a back-and-forth affair Sunday at Target Field, losing the game 5-4 and their series against the Royals two games to one. A controversial check swing call on Lorenzo Cain resulted in Paul Molitor getting ejected and allowed Cain to deliver the go-ahead hit later in the at- bat.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot93.png I took a quick look through the MLB official rule book, and guess what? There doesn’t appear to be an actual definition of a swing or check swing in there. How crazy is that? It’s basically all up to the individual umpires to determine what is an attempt to strike the ball. Does that simply mean their bat passes the front of the plate? Is it when the barrel of the bat carries past the body of the batter? All depends on who you ask, I guess. Here’s a great screenshot Ted Schwerzler shared, you be the judge. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen93.png Looking Ahead Mon: Twins (Jose Berrios) at Rays (Alex Cobb), 6:10 pm CT Tue: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Rays (Jake Odorizzi), 6:10 pm CT Wed: Twins (Aaron Slegers) at Rays (Blake Snell), 12:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 17, KC 0: What Negative Run Differential? KC 7, MIN 6: Oh, So Close MIN 5, CHW 4: Twins Win on Walk-Off HBP Click here to view the article

A big storyline, especially early in the season, was how the Twins had a winning record despite a negative run differential. That carried through the rest of the season, but a big August coupled with a drubbing of the Royals Saturday night has resulted in the Twins getting into the black. After a 17-0 win, they’ve scored 669 runs and allowed 668 on the season.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot92.png I’m sure Paul Molitor and his team heard the terms “Phythagorean win-loss record” and “negative run differential” enough to where those phrases are like nails on a chalkboard now. After tonight’s blowout win, maybe those won’t be such trigger terms for the club. As you could imagine, there were plenty of notable performances. Maybe the most encouraging of which was from Kyle Gibson, who pitched six innings but surely could have gone longer. He limited Kansas City to five singles and tallied five strikeouts while not issuing a single walk. And he did all that on just 81 pitches. Gibby hasn’t allowed four or more runs in seven-straight starts, but he’s been particularly impressive over his last three outings. In that span, he’s given up just three runs over 19.2 innings (1.37 ERA) and has 20 K's against just two walks. Another great sight was Byron Buxton’s return to the starting lineup. He hit a standup triple in his first at-bat back and ended the night 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. Joe Mauer was 4-for-4 with a double tonight, raising his average to .303 and his OPS to .801. We haven’t seen Joe hit those benchmarks since 2013. Over the last 22 games, Mauer is hitting .438 (39-for-89). Eduardo Escobar hit a pair of homers, giving him 14 on the season, and a triple. He drove in six runs. Brian Dozier hit his 27th home run of the year. Jorge Polanco had a pair of hits, because multi-hit games are the only kind of games he has now. Another fun thing to see was Niko Goodrum making his major league debut. He entered the game in the sixth inning, played second base and was 0-for-2. Standings The Yankees also won Saturday, so the Twins are still behind a game for the top wild card spot. The Angels are two back of the Twins, but their Saturday game was still in progress when this published. But Baltimore lost, so they trail Minnesota by 2.5 games. Cleveland won its 10th-straight game, maintaining their eight-game lead in the division. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen92.png Looking Ahead Sun: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. Royals (Ian Kennedy), 1:10 pm CT Mon: Twins (Jose Berrios) at Rays (Alex Cobb), 6:10 pm CT Tue: Twins (Bartolo Colon) at Rays (Jake Odorizzi), 6:10 pm CT Looking Back KC 7, MIN 6: Oh, So Close MIN 5, CHW 4: Twins Win on Walk-Off HBP MIN 11, CHW 1: Rosario Hits 2 HRs, Buxton Exits With Injury Click here to view the article

The Rochester Red Wings maintained their grip on the International League wild card thanks to big nights from Aaron Slegers and ByungHo Park. With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Wings hold a two game lead over Lehigh Valley. Find out everything that happened in the Twins minor league system on Friday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Pawtucket 4 Box Score ByungHo Park hit a three-run homer and Aaron Slegers picked up his 15th win of the season for the Red Wings. Slegers, who I assume will get consideration to replace Dillon Gee in the Twins rotation, struck out 10 batters over 6.2 innings. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk. Matt Hague and Leonardo Reginatto each had two hits. Dietrich Enns pitched for the first time since Aug. 15 and gave up a run over 1.2 innings, but he also struck out three batters. Alex Wimmers recorded the final out to earn his seventh save. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Montgomery 2 (11 innings) Box Score LaMonte Wade drove in the game-tying run in the bottom of the eighth and Edgar Corcino hit a walk-off single in the 11th to keep Chattanooga rolling ahead toward the playoffs. Dereck Rodriguez pitched 6.0 innings and gave up two runs, though neither was earned. He surrendered just two hits, walked one batter and struck out seven. Alex Muren worked a scoreless seventh before both Cody Stashak and Gabriel Moya each provided two shutout innings. Moya’s stats are completely ridiculous. This was his sixth win of the season, he has 24 saves in 24 opportunities, a 0.77 ERA and matching 0.77 WHIP. Corcino and Nick Gordon both had three hits, while Wade and catcher Brian Navarreto each picked up a pair of hits. MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter 1, Fort Myers 0 Box Score Anthony Marzi gave up a run in the bottom of the first and that was all the offense this game would see. The 24-year-old lefty went 6.0 innings and held Jupiter to four hits and two walks while striking out five. Sam Clay pitched the final two innings, lowering his ERA to 1.38 on the year. The Miracle could only muster six singles and drew a pair of walks. Leadoff man Sean Miller did his part, going 3-for-4, and cleanup man Zander Wiel had two hits. The big difference maker was that the Hammerheads turned three double plays KERNELS NUGGETS Burlington 5, Cedar Rapids 4 Box Score All the scoring in this one was done in the first five innings. Jimmy Kerrigan got things off to a great start, clubbing a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to put the Kernels up 2-0. The Bees tallied five unanswered runs before Kerrigan cracked yet another two-run blast to bring Cedar Rapids within a run. Unfortunately, the Burlington bullpen was on its game, as two relievers combined to strike out 10 batters over 4.0 no-hit innings. Charlie Barnes was the starter and gave up five runs (four earned) over 4.2 innings. The Kernels pen was also steller, as Max Cordy (2.1 IP) and Hector Lujan (2.0 IP) combined for 4.1 no-hit innings of their own. E-TWINS E-NOTES OFF Elizabethton’s regular season concluded Thursday. They play Greenville in the Appy League West Divison Finals beginning tonight at 5:00 pm CT. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Red Sox 5, GCL Twins 4 (Game 1, 7 innings) Box Score The Twins held a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh and final inning, but Amilcar Cruz walked three batters in the inning and David Gerics threw a wild pitch that allowed the Red Sox to score the winning run. Left fielder Colton Burns was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and a walk. Right fielder Jared Akins hit a two-out, bases-clearing triple in the fourth inning. GCL Twins 9, GCL Red Sox (Game 2, 7 innings) Box Score The GCL Twins rebounded nicely from that disappointing loss, cruising to victory in Game 2. Third baseman Alex Robles was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run. Burns, catcher Taylor Grzelakowski and shortstop Victor Tademo also had two RBI a piece. Taylor Clemensia was effectively wild over his 3.2 innings. Though he walked five batters, he also gave up just one hit and had seven strikeouts. The only run he gave up was unearned. Petru Balan took care of things from there, throwing 3.1 no-hit innings. He struck out four and walked one batter. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Aaron Slegers, Rochester (6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Jimmy Kerrigan, Cedar Rapids (2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R) SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Pawtuckett, 5:05 pm CT, Felix Jorge (0-1, 4.50 ERA) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 6:15 pm CT, D.J. Baxendale 0-0, 1.62 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter, 5:05 pm CT, Lachlan Wells (4-10, 4.24 ERA) Cedar Rapids at Beloit, 7:00 pm CT, Bryan Sammons (2-1, 4.35 ERA) Elizabethton at Greenville, 5:00 pm CT, (TBD) GCL Twins vs. GCL Red Sox (Cancelled) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Friday's games. Click here to view the article

If there was a way to measure a team’s competitiveness, it would be safe to assume the Twins would be among the top teams in baseball. They entered the bottom of the ninth down 7-4 Friday night, but battled back and got the game-tying run all the way to third base before finally falling to the Royals.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snapshot91.png The Twins trailed 7-4 entering the bottom of the ninth. Fireballing closer Kelvin Herrera came in for the Royals. Things did not get off to a good start for KC, as Max Kepler reached on a fielding error, but Herrera recovered to retire the next two batters. But Zack Granite drew a walk and Brian Dozier was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Joe Mauer. To increase the drama, Byron Buxton entered the game as a pinch runner, representing the game-tying run at first base. Mauer sent a slow grounder right through the middle of the infield. That scored two runs and advanced Buxton to third. Herrera was removed from the game in the middle of an at-bat against Jorge Polanco. Lefty Scott Alexander entered and walked Polanco to load the bases again, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position. Just when it looked like the Twins were going to pull off another improbable walk-off win, Alexander got Eddie Rosario swinging to end the game. How did the Twins fall behind in the first place? Dillon Gee was roughed up for five runs and lasted just 2.2 innings. It seems pretty safe to say he’ll be removed from the rotation after two starts in which he logged a total of just 6.2 innings and gave up nine runs. Always need a long guy in the pen, though. Tyler Duffey provided 2.1 innings of relief, but gave up a two-run homer right before he was lifted. Ryan Pressly (1.2 IP), Buddy Boshers (1.1 IP) and John Curtiss (1.0 innings) shut out the Royals from there to give the Twins a chance to mount a comeback. Polanco hit his 10th homer of the year, a two-run shot in the first inning. He also reached base in three of his four plate appearances. Mauer, Dozier and Kepler all had two hits each. Mauer also (stop me if you’ve heard this before) made a pair of fine defensive plays. He laid out to reel in a throw that completed a double play in the first inning and made a nice diving stop near the line in the second inning Standings The Yankees lost, so the Twins are still just a game behind for the top wild card spot. The Angels’ game was still in progress at the time this published. They are currently one back of the Twins, with Baltimore trailing by 1.5 games. Cleveland won its ninth straight game, so they hold an eight-game lead in the AL Central. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen91.png Looking Ahead Sat: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Royals (Onelki Garcia), 6:10 pm CT Sun: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. Royals (Ian Kennedy), 1:10 pm CT Mon: Twins (TBD) at Rays (TBD), 6:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 5, CHW 4: Twins Win on Walk-Off HBP MIN 11, CHW 1: Rosario Hits 2 HRs, Buxton Exits With Injury MIN 6, CHW 4: Polanco Does it All Click here to view the article

I just didn't have time. These day games during the week suck for my schedule. Added a summary of the standings and the postgame interview with Molitor.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Twins go out and win a game on a walk-off hit batsman. After Eddie Rosario delivered a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth, Max Kepler took one for the team to give the Twins their 70th victory of the season.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: IMG_20170831_155217.jpg Download attachment: chart.png On his second pitch on the ninth, Belisle gave up a crushing go-ahead homer to Alen Hanson. He also walked the next batter, but to his credit Belisle righted the ship and struck out three of the next four batters he faced to limit the damage. There was an intentional walk in the middle of those K's. You never like to see your closer (are we calling him that?) give up a go-ahead home run in the ninth, but at least he didn’t completely unravel. With David Robertson traded away, the White Sox have a lot of uncertainty in the back end of their bullpen, too. Juan Minaya, who entered the game with three career saves, coughed up the lead in the bottom of the ninth. Ehire Adrianza led off the inning with a pinch-hit single. Zack Granite popped out on a bunt attempt for the first out, but thank goodness in the end it didn’t matter. Brian Dozier walked, Rosario hit a game-tying single and Joe Mauer walked to load the bases. Jorge Polanco hit the first pitch he saw back to the pitcher for the second out. That’s when the Kepler heroics happened. Well, maybe that’s overselling it a bit. The very first pitch of the at-bat, an 88 mph slider, hit Max to give the Twins yet another August win. It looked like it got him squarely on the back shin, but Max was able to jog down to first and participate in the victory celebration. Kepler also hit a game-tying RBI double in the fifth inning. It was an odd day for Bartolo. Typically a wizard at coaxing “good” contact, Colon gave up 10 hits. Also weird: he struck out a season-high eight batters. At the end of the day, that combination resulted in a quality start (6.0 IP, 3 ER). Alan Busenitz pitched two shutout innings before Belisle gave up the run in the ninth. The Twins got some great news on Byron Buxton. His hand injury is merely considered day-to-day, a bruise of the hamate bone. Standings Cleveland was off, so the Twins are now 6.5 games back in the division. The Yankees won, but the Orioles finally lost. So the Twins remain a game back of New York for the first Wild Card and are 1.5 games up on the Angels for the second spot. Baltimore is 2.5 back. The next teams trail the Twins by four games. The crowd has started to thin out. Postgame With Molitor Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: IMG_20170831_154811.jpg Looking Ahead Fri: Twins (Dillon Gee) vs. Royals (Jason Hammel), 7:10 pm CT Sat: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Royals (TBD), 6:10 pm CT Sun: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. Royals (TBD), 1:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 11, CHW 1: Rosario Hits 2 HRs, Buxton Exits With Injury MIN 6, CHW 4: Polanco Does it All MIN 7, TOR 2: Buxton Hits 3 Homers, Twins Win Series at Toronto Click here to view the article

You are correct. Fixed. I must've had some space dust on my computer screen that only allowed me to see the earned runs column.

I would assume so, since he only threw 36 pitches tonight. I'm sure they'd like to get him a bit more stretched out. After that, I'm not sure what'll happen. Rochester's last regular season game is Monday.

Jose Berrios was dominant, the defense was great and the offense kept rolling. It was another great August night for the Twins, what a month they've had. Eddie Rosario went deep twice. Byron Buxton made another four-star catch, but left this game early with a hand injury.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Snap830.png As fun a night this was for the offense, seeing a starter completely have his way with a team is as beautiful a sight as there is for a Twins fan. Berrios struck out 11 batters over 7.0 shutout innings. He gave up just four hits and a walk. Maybe the most encouraging part was it only took him 88 pitches to do it, 67 of which were strikes. It can be very difficult for left-handed hitters to hit homers at Target Field, but Eddie Rosario hit two tonight, avoiding right field altogether. His first blast was an oppo-taco and the second was to center field. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen830.png Looking Ahead Thu: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. White Sox (Miguel Gonzalez), 12:10 pm CT Fri: Twins (Dillon Gee) vs. Royals (Jason Hammel), 7:10 pm CT Sat: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Royals (TBD), 6:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 6, CHW 4: Polanco Does it All MIN 7, TOR 2: Buxton Hits 3 Homers, Twins Win Series at Toronto TOR 10, MIN 9: Sloppy 8th Inning Costs Twins in Comeback Effort Click here to view the article

Adalberto Mejia had been sidelined for nearly a month due to a biceps injury, but he was sharp in his first rehab outing for Rochester. Stephen Gonsalves didn’t fare quite so well. It wasn’t a great night for the Lookouts, either, but the Miracle turned their first triple play in franchise history and won in extras. Cedar Rapids, who had Torii Hunter as a guest in their dugout, got a big game from the new-look Royce Lewis in a blowout victory. Both E-Town and the GCL Twins were victorious, as well.Transactions Randy Dobnak was promoted to Cedar Rapids from Elizabethton. An undrafted free agent this year, Dobnak had a 2.39 ERA over 26.1 innings with the E-Twins. RED WINGS REPORT Scranton 8, Rochester 4 Box Score Mejia, seeing his first live game action since Aug. 8, struck out four batters over three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked a batter. He only required 36 pitches, 23 of which were strikes (63.9 percent). While that performance was encouraging, Stephen Gonsalves didn’t have the best of nights. Making his first relief appearance since 2013 (in order to accommodate Mejia’s rehab start), Gonsalves got just two outs and gave up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks. He’s up to 14 earned runs over 22.2 innings for the Red Wings (5.56 ERA). Jake Reed managed to throw 2.1 shutout innings, and the Rochester bats battled back to within a run of the RailRiders, but Alex Wimmers also had a rough night. He gave up four runs in the bottom of the seventh, two coming on a Tyler Austin homer. Niko Goodrum hit a two-run triple and J.B. Shuck was the only Wings player with two hits. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Jackson 4, Chattanooga 0 Box Score The Lookouts just couldn’t get anything going. The game got off to an ominous start, as the Generals struck out the side in the top of the first. Chattanooga only got a runner as far as third base once. Ryan Eades made the start, and gave up a run over four innings. Keaton Steele was the first man out of the pen and gave up two unearned runs over two innings thanks to errors by Nick Gordon and Brian Navarreto. Randy Rosario took care of the final two frames. He walked four batters and gave up a single in the eighth inning, but managed to give up just one run. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 and Jonathan Rodriguez and Brian Navarreto each had a double. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 4, St. Lucie 3 (10 innings) Box Score The Miracle squandered a 3-0 lead, but ended up taking this one in extras. Sean Miller opened the 10th inning with a single, advanced to second on a Tanner English sac bunt, moved up to third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly from Brandon Lopez. How’s that for small ball? With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, St. Lucie managed to get the first two batters of the inning on. But the Miracle went around the horn to complete the first triple play in their 26th year in existence. It went third baseman Brandon Lopez to second baseman Sean Miller to first baseman Chris Paul. Clark Beeker gave up three runs over five innings, but he also hit Tim Tebow with a pitch. That’s gotta be worth something, right? Alex Robinson provided two scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Jay added two perfect innings of his own, striking out two batters in the process. Michael Kohn earned his first save with a scoreless bottom of the 10th inning. Chris Paul was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer. Zander Wiel was 2-for-4 with a double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 11, Burlington 1 Box Score Torii Hunter had quite the impact on his visit to Cedar Rapids. Royce Lewis’ exaggerated leg kick is no more, and the Kernels scored seven runs in the first inning. OK, who knows if Torii had anything to do with either of those things, but it was pretty cool to see him in the dugout. The big blow of that first inning was a Trey Cabbage bases-clearing double. Travis Blankenhorn drove in five runs, including two on his 13th homer of the season, and also stole his 12th base. Royce Lewis had three hits, including a triple, and a walk. Ben Rortvedt also had a three-hit night. Tyler Watson, making his fifth start since coming over in the Brandon Kintzler trade, held the Bees to one run on three hits over 5.0 innings. He had six strikeouts and walked three batters. Max Cordy and Evan Sanders each pitched two scoreless innings of relief. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Kingsport 3 Box Score Yet another victory for the Appy League West division champs. Rainis Silva had four hits, Gorge Munoz hit a homer and Akil Baddoo was 2-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBI and a run scored. Baddoo’s slash line is now an eye-popping .361/.484/.590 for Elizabethton. Starter Ryley Widell, the Twins seventh-round pick this year, gave up a pair of runs over four innings. With eight more strikeouts, he’s up to 41 in 29.2 innings pitched (12.6 K/9), but he also walked four batters, and is up to 20 on the season. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 1 Box Score This game was scoreless heading into the eighth inning, but the Twins took advantage of a couple of errors committed by the Rays over the final two frames. In fact, none of the four runs scored in this game were credited to the pitcher as earned as the Rays committed four errors in the game. The Twins only committed three. Carlos Suniaga gave up just two hits over 6.0 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.69. His catcher, Kirby Camacho, reached safely in three of his four plate appearances, recording a single and two walks. The 19-year-old hasn't shown much power yet, but his OBP is up to .394 and he has more walks (13) than strikeouts (9). Humberto Maldonado had the Twins only extra-base hit, a double, and Ricky De La Torre had the team's only multi-hit game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Carlos Suniaga, GCL Twins (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K) Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Travis Blankenhorn, Cedar Rapids (2-for-5, HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, SB) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Scranton, 6:05 pm CT, David Hurlbut (3.55 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) Chattanooga vs. Montgomery, 6:15 pm CT, Zack Littell (3.03 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) Fort Myers at Jupiter, 5:30 pm CT, TBD Cedar Rapids vs. Burlington, 6:35 pm CT, Tyler Wells (2.21 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) Elizabethton at Kingsport, 5:30 pm CT, TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Rays, 9:00 am CT, TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Wednesday's games. Click here to view the article

Thank you. I can't seem to stop tinkering with the recipe for these things, but I feel really good about this new format. Glad to hear you like it.

Jorge Polanco stole a base, hit a home run from the left side, hit a home run from the right side and made a web gem in the field. Nice little Tuesday at the ballpark for the young man. Also, Ervin Santana delivered a quality start and Matt Belisle picked up the save.Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs) Download attachment: Sanp829.png What a terror Jorge has been against Chicago. Seven of Polanco’s nine home runs this season have come against the White Sox. He made another special memory against them tonight, as it was the first multi-homer game of Polanco’s career -- hitting one from each side. Bullpen Usage Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days: Download attachment: Bullpen829.png Looking Ahead Wed: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT Thu: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. White Sox (Miguel Gonzalez), 12:10 pm CT Fri: Twins (TBD) vs. Royals (TBD), 7:10 pm CT Looking Back MIN 7, TOR 2: Buxton Hits 3 Homers, Twins Win Series at Toronto TOR 10, MIN 9: Sloppy 8th Inning Costs Twins in Comeback Effort MIN 6, TOR 1: Buxton, Bartolo Get Twins Back to Winning Ways Click here to view the article

Here's the deal with Gibson ... Batter ahead in count First 21 start: 30.05% of the time Last 2 starts: 19.10% Batter behind in count First 21 starts: 24.59% Last 2 starts: 31.66%