Minnesota Twins Daily Clips. Thursday, April 4, 2013

Transcription

1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Thursday, April 4, 2013 Escobar s walk-off double lifts Twins to 3-2 victory. StarTribune.com (Miller) pg. 1 Players struggle to see midafternoons at Target Field. StarTribune.com (Miller) pg. 2 Postgame: Hunter-Cabrera a good team; Hicks likes No. 32. StarTribune.com (Miller) pg. 3 Twins-Detroit game recap. StarTribune.com (Miller) pg. 4 Counter Intelligence: Hits and misses of Target Field food. StarTribune.com (Nelson) pg. 4 De Vries first start pushed back to Sunday. StarTribune.com (Miller) pg. 5 Twin Cities baseball fanatic selling huge memorabilia collection. StarTribune.com (Strickler) pg. 6 For Twins Vance Worley, black-rimmed glasses but no Wild Thing. PioneerPress.com (Sansevere) pg. 7 With social media, Twins rookie Aaron Hicks becomes six-tool player. PioneerPress.com pg. 8 Minnesota Twins: Cole De Vries first pitching start still uncertain. PioneerPress.com (Berardino) pg. 9 For Twins Joe Mauer, marriage includes Teen Mom viewing. PioneerPress.com (Sansevere) pg. 9 Minnesota Twins: Aaron Hicks picked 32 for Dave Winfield, dad and more. PioneerPress.com (Berardino) pg. 10 Twins 3, Tigers 2: Eduardo Escobar s walk-off double caps ninth-inning rally. PioneerPress.com (Berardino) pg. 10 Tom Powers: A cold day, but warm feelings for Twins and fans. PioneerPress.com (Powers) pg. 11 Minnesota Twins: Detroit s doormats? Not so fast. PioneerPress.com (Berardino) pg. 12 Minnesota Twins Liam Hendriks ready for Baltimore after close call. PioneerPress.com (Berardino) pg. 13 Escobar comes up big as Twins walk off. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 14 Eduardo Escobar s two-run double in ninth lifts Twins past Tigers. ESPN.com (AP) pg. 15 Twins rally in ninth, Tigers closer-by-committee fails. USAToday.com (Crawford) pg. 16 Diamond, Swarzak look sharp in Minor League outings. Twinsbaseball.com (Bollinger) pg. 17 Hendriks, Worley, De Vries to pitch in Orioles series. Twinsbaseball.com (Bollinger) pg. 17 Mastroianni available to play, still dealing with sore foot. Twinsbaseball.com (Bollinger) pg. 18 Twins, Tigers face off in rubber game. Twinsbaseball.com (Cotton) pg. 18 Diamond on track to rejoin rotation soon after successful rehab outing. 1500ESPN.com (Warne) pg. 19 Hunter still feels weird when playing Twins. Foxsportsnorth.com (Mason) pg. 19 Escobar s walk-off double lifts Twins to 3-2 victory Phil Miller / StarTribune.com 4/4/13 Brian Dozier didn t listen to his first base coach, he tuned out his teammates, and he was ready to ignore his third base coach, too. Smart man. Dozier trusted his own read on Eduardo Escobar s deep fly ball in the bottom of the ninth and was standing on second base when the baseball bounced off the warning track between two Detroit outfielders Wednesday. That gave him more than enough time to round third and score the winning run in the Twins dramatic 3-2 victory over the Tigers at frigid, half-empty Target Field. Everybody on the bench was yelling Tag up! And he was the only one who did the right thing, manager Ron Gardenhire said of Dozier s aggressive baserunning. I don t know how he figured out they were going to miss that ball, but he did it. ~ 1 ~

2 He did, and with pinch runner Jamey Carroll scoring the tying run ahead of him, Dozier didn t hesitate as the Tigers scrambled to retrieve the ball and beat the relay to the plate. Third base coach Joe Vavra was waving him home, but that didn t matter much, either. If he gave me the stop sign, I might have ran through it, Dozier said. Once it hit the wall, I was looking back over my shoulder and it had a high bounce. That s when I knew I was safe. The Twins mobbed Escobar, the utility infielder who made his first at-bat of 2013 a big one by clobbering the first pitch he saw from Tigers kinda-sorta closer Phil Coke. But they would have been justified in hoisting Kevin Correia onto their shoulders, too, because his start was almost as thrilling to the pitching-poor Twins as the ninth-inning rally. The righthander allowed only seven singles over seven innings, an encouraging sign for one of the cornerstones of the Twins rebuilt rotation. Reigning MVP Miguel Cabrera collected two of the hits, and both drove in runs. But Correia walked only one, struck out two, and allowed no other runner other than the two who scored to reach third base in his seveninning, 97-pitch outing. That didn t look like it would matter Wednesday, because the Twins luck against starter Anibal Sanchez was basically identical to their Monday outing against Justin Verlander five innings, zero runs. Minnesota scored a run in the seventh when Wilkin Ramirez delivered a pinch-hit RBI double, but the Twins still trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth. When Trevor Plouffe walked, the Tigers turned to closer-of-the-moment Coke, who got a quick flyout, but surrendered an opposite-field single to Dozier. That brought up Escobar, the defensive-replacement shortstop, with one goal in mind. He felt he did his job because he put it in the air far enough [to score pinch runner Carroll on a sacrifice fly], Ramirez said as Escobar s interpreter. But he never thinks about the ball going to go that far. Neither did anyone else. Dozier edged farther and farther toward second, ready to go back and tag up once it became apparent the ball would be caught. But Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks never caught up to it. He hit it better than I thought, said Jackson, the center fielder who pulled up about five feet from where the ball bounced. It s hard to really call it when you see it in between like that. We re both going after it hard. Players struggle to see midafternoons at Target Field Phil Miller / StarTribune.com 4/4/13 Wednesday s first-pitch temperature was 46 degrees, though with a steady wind of 18 miles per hour blowing across the diamond, it wasn t much warmer than Monday s near-freezing opener. But it s not the freezing weather that s bothering some of the Twins. I could care less about the temperature. I just put layers on, first baseman Justin Morneau said. The bad part is, I can t see out there. Both of the Twins first two games were scheduled for 3:10 p.m., and by 3:45, shadows were creeping across the field, leaving first base and home plate in the dark while the pitcher and left side of the infield remained in bright sunshine. It s not easy in the shadows, manager Ron Gardenhire said. With these 3 o clock games, it s tough to see the ball. That s the case in any ballpark, but Morneau said that for some reason, the contrast at Target Field makes it one of the most difficult midafternoon venues he s played in. It s bad anywhere you go, but here, seeing the ball off the bat, seeing the ball from infielders, seeing the ball out of the pitchers s hand I mean, it s as bad as I can remember right now, Morneau said. We can t control the temperature, but we can control when we play. And this has been tough. ~ 2 ~

3 De Vries start delayed Cole De Vries first start has been pushed back until Sunday, Gardenhire said, after the righthander felt tightness in his forearm again during a bullpen session. Liam Hendriks will pitch the series opener against Baltimore on Friday the Orioles home opener and Vance Worley, who pitched six innings Monday against the Tigers, will take De Vries spot Saturday. It helps keep Worley on five[-day rotation], but it also gives De Vries an extra day, Gardenhire said. [The bullpen session] just went OK today. It wasn t great. De Vries will throw in the bullpen in Baltimore on Friday, and the team will make a decision Saturday about whether he ll make his start or go on the disabled list before his season even starts. I was hoping it would be 100 percent by now, but it s not 100 percent, De Vries said. But we ll see. It could easily be good for Sunday. Etc. Paid attendance for the 3:10 start was only 22,963, easily the fewest fans ever to witness a Target Field game. The previous record was 27,526, set last Sept. 10 against Cleveland. Rookie center fielder Aaron Hicks is now 0-for-7 in his major league career with five strikeouts, though he has drawn a walk in each of his first two games. Righthander Anthony Swarzak will require at least one more minor league outing before he s ready to rejoin the Twins, but that appearance might be put off a couple of days. Swarzak had his wisdom teeth pulled Wednesday, and will be given a couple of days off. Postgame: Hunter-Cabrera a good team; Hicks likes No. 32 Phil Miller / StarTribune.com 4/3/13 Torii Hunter's not a vengeful guy, and he wasn't particularly unhappy to wind up in Anaheim, and now Detroit, after a decade in Minnesota. But man, he's taking it out on the Twins these days. Already a.305 hitter with a.475 slugging average against his old team coming into the game, Hunter hurt the Twins again on Wednesday, twice extending innings with two-out singles against Kevin Correia to bring the game's best hitter to the plate. And both times, Miguel Cabrera delivered RBI singles, supplying all the offense the Tigers could muster in their 3-2 loss to the Twins. "Torii likes to play against us. He gets excited. He's game-on, man. I don't like to face him much," said manager Ron Gardenhire. "He's learned over the years that the biggest thing is the winning part now. He's made his money, he still loves the game, and now he's trying to find that ring." Batting in front of Cabrera is a good place to look. The reigning American League MVP impressed Correia with how willing he was to simply put the ball where there was a hole, rather than trying to knock it out of the park. "The guy's a tough out. He's the best hitter in the world. He didn't hit the ball hard off me, but he's just so good," Correia said. "That's what he's trying to do, hit it where he hit it, in that hole, and get those RBIs." Correia actually struck out Cabrera in the first inning on a pitch that he admitted isn't always called a strike. "He had the same approach all three at-bats. He was trying to go the other way, and I was throwing two-seamers in on him," Correia said. "That one [the strikeout pitch], I just threw a good straight fastball, a good pitcher's pitch. It could easily have been a ball but for the way Joe [Mauer] caught it. That was one he got for me." XXX Aaron Hicks' father wore No. 31 during his days as a minor-league outfielder in the Padres' system, but Alex Burnett owned that uniform for the Twins, so Hicks was assigned No. 32. When Burnett was waived, however, Hicks had a chance to claim the family number. ~ 3 ~

4 He'll stick with 32, he said, after consulting with Joe Hicks. "He loved that it's one more. 'Just be better than I was, actually making it to the big leagues,' " Hicks said. "And the fact that his favorite player wore the number when he was here, Dave Winfield." Dan Gladden, who won a couple of world championships wearing the Twins' No. 32, stopped by the clubhouse in spring training and gave his blessing, too. "I think it looks good on him," said Gladden, now a Twins' radio broadcaster. "He said he father's favorite player was Dave Winfield. I told him he should do his homework -- somebody else wore it, too." And now lots of people might wear it. Hicks said he noticed a few people in the Target Field stands sporting No. 32 jerseys on Opening Day. "Of course, they're all my family members," he said with a laugh. Twins-Detroit game recap Phil Miller / StarTribune.com 4/3/13 GAME RECAP Impact player Eduardo Escobar, Twins The backup infielder drove the first pitch he saw this season to the left-center field wall in the ninth inning, scoring the tying and gamewinning runs. By the numbers 0 Runs scored by the Twins against Detroit starters in two games. 13 Innings pitched by Twins starters Vance Worley (six) and Kevin Correia (seven) in the first two games. 5 Hits by the Twins, with two coming in the decisive ninth..310 Torii Hunter s batting average in 38 career games against his former team. On deck Mike Pelfrey, who underwent Tommy John surgery last May, makes his first appearance since April 21 in his Twins debut. Counter Intelligence: Hits and misses of Target Field food Rick Nelson / StarTribune.com 4/4/13 The opening-day temperature at Target Field was decidedly chilly, but the reception given to hungry Twins fans was warm on Monday, perfect for scoping out new foods available on the ballpark s concourses. The smartest partnership since the Twins signed Kramarczuk s is definitely the ballpark rendition of AZ Canteen (Section 120), the spirited food truck run by Bizarre Foods talking head Andrew Zimmern. Twins fans can indulge in Zimmern s outstanding burger, a rich, super-savory goat-lamb grind. It s carefully grilled to pink medium-rare juiciness, tarragon- and chive-infused butter melts into the toasted bun, the patty is garnished with roasted tomatoes and charred onions and it s served in a paper boat with crisp and generously seasoned house-fried potato chips. Bottom line: It s fantastic, and unlike most overpriced Target Field food-and-drink items, it s actually worth its $13 price tag. The stand s other item is a beet-red hibiscus punch ($4.50), its ginger notes tamping down what could be an insipid floral overtone. It ll be a refreshingly not-sweet thirst-quencher when the weather turns balmy. ~ 4 ~

5 The Twins have tapped St. Paul s Mac s Fish and Chips for its fried walleye formula (Section 133, $11.50), and the results are crisp and salty on the outside, tender and piping hot on the inside. Great skin-on fries, too, although the pre-packaged tartar sauce? Awful. Two major improvements for products sold throughout the ballpark: the well-seasoned brats and Italian sausages (by Midwestern producer Sheboygan Meats, $5.50) and the creamy Kemp s soft-serve ice cream ($4.50 and $5.50). As for SnoBlitz, Kemp s unfortunate ice-cream-in-a-cup product ($6.50, widely available), skip it. Both the chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies-and-cream versions had the consistency and flavor of frozen Crisco. Carb-loaders have several new options. The Food Network-branded counter (Section 114) has supplemented its Buffalo chicken mac-andcheese with two variations: andouille sausage, and jalapeño with a bacon-panko topping (each $12, a sampler trio is also $12). All are best described as generously cheesy, semi-spicy and overpriced. Imported from Panino s in North Oaks, calzone-like baked sandwiches (Sections 122 and 319, $10.50) are wrapped in a sort-of tortilla, sort-of thin crust pizza dough and filled with either spaghetti and meatballs or chicken doused in a spicy Buffalo sauce (what is it with Buffalo sauce and sports stadiums?). They re filling, and straight-from-the-oven hot. Finally, there must be reasons behind tag-teaming with Papa John s, but it can t be flavor. Or quality. Or value. The pizza conglomerate is supplying single-serving cheese, sausage and pepperoni pies ($9, Sections 122 and 319), but the doughy, bland, underbaked results are easily bested by a half-dozen brands currently available in most supermarket frozen-foods sections. Come on, Twins, you operate one of the most gorgeous ballparks in the country. You can do better. De Vries first start pushed back to Sunday Phil Miller / StarTribune.com 4/3/13 Cole De Vries' first start has been pushed back until Sunday, manager Ron Gardenhire said before Wednesday's game, after the right-hander felt tightness in his forearm again during a bullpen session. Liam Hendriks will pitch the series opener against Baltimore on Friday -- the Orioles' home opener -- and Vance Worley, who pitched six innings Monday against the Tigers, will take De Vries' spot on Saturday. "It helps keep Worley on five[-day rotation], but it also gives De Vries an extra day," Gardenhire said. "It just went OK today. It wasn't great." That's because, near the end of a 30-pitch bullpen session, De Vries began to feel the ligaments in his right forearm, just below the elbow, tighten up again. "I could kind of feel it as I released the ball, on top of my forearm," said De Vries, who left his final spring-training start after just three innings last Friday. "It's the first time in my career I've ever had any [problem] in my arm, but I think it's just a minor strain." After his mound session, De Vries had "active release therapy" on his arm, a massage technique in which "they find the hot spot and really dig in and stretch it out to loosen it," he said, and he is optimistic that should speed the healing. De Vries will throw in the bullpen in Baltimore on Friday, and the team will make a decision on Saturday about whether he'll make his start or go on the disabled list before his season even starts. "I was hoping it would be 100 percent by now, but it's not 100 percent," De Vries said. "But we'll see. It could easily be good for Sunday." Meanwhile, Kevin Correia makes his first start as an American Leaguer today, facing Detroit right-hander Anibal Sanchez. Both teams will use the same lineups they started on Monday: TIGERS Austin Jackson, CF Torii Hunter, RF Miguel Cabrera, 3B ~ 5 ~

6 Prince Fielder, 1B Victor Martinez, DH Andy Dirks, LF Jhonny Peralta, SS Alex Avila, C Omar Infante, 2B Anibal Sanchez, P TWINS Aaron Hicks, CF Joe Mauer, C Josh Willingham, LF Justin Morneau, 1B Ryan Doumit, DH Trevor Plouffe, 3B Chris Parmelee, RF Brian Dozier, 2B Pedro Florimon, SS Kevin Correia, P Twin Cities baseball fanatic selling huge memorabilia collection Jeff Strickler / StarTribune.com 4/4/13 Brad Zellar spent three decades amassing the grand slam of baseball collections, and now the writer and former used-book store owner is hoping that it s also a hit with his fellow baseball fanatics. How I got all this stuff is truly beyond me at this point, he admitted as he sorted through the contents of one of the 500 boxes of collectibles he has accumulated. I went all over the country looking for books for my bookstore I went to estate sales and farm auctions and secondhand stores and anytime I found something dealing with baseball, I bought it. It all will be for sale Saturday and Sunday and April in a storefront that he has rented near the intersection of Raymond and University Avenues in St. Paul. With prices ranging from $3 to more than $1,000, the collection includes a bit of everything. There are obscure books written by authors no one had ever heard of before (or since, in most cases) to a 1911 first edition of the book Base Ball by Albert Spaulding. There s a ball signed by Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, mitts dating to the 19th century and a souvenir ashtray from the Kansas City A s that s right, not the Royals, the A s before their move to Oakland 45 years ago. He has kids books, board games and team giveaways, including a set of miniature bats. He has so much stuff that even he won t be sure what all he has until he finishes unpacking it. A lot of this stuff, I look at it and go, Oh, yeah, I remember that, he said. But some of it, I don t remember where it came from. Most of the collection consists of things he intended to sell in his store but was reluctant to part with. It wasn t so much that he wanted to keep them as it was that he wanted them to go to good homes where they would be appreciated. To me, this is all about the fans, he said. Dealers would come in, pick out the good stuff and then mark it up to sell to someone else. I didn t want it just passing through the hands of someone who was looking to make money off wealthy collectors. I wanted it to go to people who would go crazy about finding it the same way I did when I found it. In storage for long enough He sold his interest in the store, Rag & Bone Books, 10 years ago, and the collection has been sitting in storage since. ~ 6 ~

7 I realized that I hadn t looked at this stuff for 10 years, he explained when asked why he had decided to sell it now. Plus, I had to keep moving it from one storage spot to another. About the third or fourth time I was moving 500 boxes of books, I started thinking about getting rid of it. He has culled a couple of things that he wants to keep, but only a couple. I m an obsessive collector, he said. My home is full of stuff; I don t have room for more. I took some books that my dad and grandfather liked, and there s a Harmon Killebrew glove from when he played with the Washington Senators [before the team became the Minnesota Twins] that I still might keep. But that s about it. One of the things he thought about keeping was a signed baseball. Not the one autographed by Williams and Mantle signatures Zellar got himself but one signed by someone who will forever remain anonymous. It s a Little League baseball on which someone has written: This is the ball that Jerry hit for a home run to win the 1961 championship. I realize that this has little if any [monetary] value, he said, picking up the ball to examine the inscription. But every time I look at it, I wonder: Why would anyone get rid of something like this? This was really special to someone. For Twins Vance Worley, black-rimmed glasses but no Wild Thing Bob Sansevere / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 Vance Worley wears prescription eyeglasses when he pitches for the Twins. It's nothing new. He wore glasses when he pitched for the Phillies, too. Worley wore black-rimmed glasses pitching in the Twins' season-opening loss to the Detroit Tigers on Monday, April 1. He will wear the black rims again, though he has several colors from which to choose. I had an entertaining and informative conversation Wednesday, April 3, with Worley about his eyewear. BS: I want to talk to you about wearing glasses. VW: How much it sucks? (Laughs) BS: No, that's not what I meant. VW: They're tough to pitch with. I sweat a lot. They steam up. And I just have to figure out a way to pitch through it, even if I have sweat on the lenses. I try to wipe the sweat off and it just smears it. BS: Have you tried contact lenses? VW: I've tried. I can't get them in. I've had the eye doc try and all I do is get mad and leave with a real sore eye. BS: Did you ever consider laser surgery? VW: I'm not going to risk it, not until I'm done playing or close to it. What if I'm that one guy that has a problem? I need to be able to see those signs. I'll wait for laser surgery. My eyes aren't terrible. BS: What is your vision? VW: I'm just near-sighted. I don't know numbers. They try to make the prescription as strong as they can for me. It's just a matter of time before I get my new prescription in. These are from last year. So they've got a couple of scratches on them. BS: How long have you worn glasses when you pitch? VW: I started wearing them when I was 17. I could see fine during the day, but by the time the sun started going down I had to really look in there. BS: Before you started wearing glasses were things just fuzzy? ~ 7 ~

8 VW: Yeah, it was just fuzzy. I can see fine now, but once the sun starts going down, if I'm driving, I can't see street signs. I can't read them, so I just go off landmarks. I try to wear my regular glasses as often as I can. BS: Do you have tinted sunglasses when you pitch? VW: I don't have those. I don't want them to get too dark on me out there. They'd be cool, right? (Laughs.) BS: Have you heard from parents who've said you've helped make wearing glasses cool for their kids? VW: Yes. When I was with Philly, there was a lot of fan mail that came in to me or to the front office, just wanting to know what model of glasses I'm wearing. They'd say, "My kids look up to you because you're one of the only guys who'll wear them. It's making glasses cool to wear on the field." It's not, "Look at that four-eyes guy out there on the field." BS: Growing up, were you a fan of Rick "Wild Thing," Vaughn, Charlie Sheen's glasses-wearing character in "Major League?" VW: I knew about it. I watched it more just to watch it, but not necessarily for his style. BS: You've never requested "Wild Thing" as the song that plays when you take the mound? VW: Oh, no. A lot of people said that about the glasses. And I had the Mohawk the last couple of years. I got rid of the Mohawk because I don't really know any barbers out here (in Minnesota). I don't want to get chopped up and not look good. BS: What's the worst thing about wearing glasses when you pitch -- a hot August day? VW: That's usually not too bad. That's when it's just sweat. The other day (in the season opener), if I took a deep breath, it would come back and hit me in the face, and I would have to wait before I could pitch. BS: Do you bring anything on the mound to clean the glasses? VW: It's too hard because I sweat too much. If I leave it in my back pocket, it will be filled with sweat and smear it even more. BS: Have you been tempted to go into a game without glasses? VW: In the minor leagues, I went during the day without them. But once I got to the big leagues, it was my staple. I needed to wear them. I didn't want media or the fans to say, "Oh, he's not wearing them today." BS: I know you've worn red glasses, white glasses and black glasses. How many do you have? VW: I've been wearing Oakley ever since I started. I've got everything. I have all the red frames. I have white. I have gray. I have the carbon fiber. I have black. I'm working on getting Navy blue ones. I try to match the uniform as best I can so it doesn't stand out too much. With social media, Twins rookie Aaron Hicks becomes six-tool player PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 ON AND ON How do you most often connect to social media? Is it with a phone? A computer? A tablet? I noticed Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks hunched over while sitting in front of his locker before the Wednesday, April 3, game against Detroit, and wondered if he was on social media. Turns out, he was checking out Twitter. Here is Hicks... On how he connects to social media: "I just use my phone. It's an iphone. I do it whenever it's convenient. My phone is always on me." On which social media site he spends the most time: "It's pretty much Twitter." On his followers: "I had about 7,000 followers when spring training started. (He had 9,500 followers before Wednesday's game.) A lot of guys like to see their followers go up." ~ 8 ~

9 On whom he likes to follow on Twitter: "I like following Ben Revere, Denard Span. (Revere and Span are his predecessors in center field for the Twins.) And I like Will Ferrell. He's pretty funny. That's pretty much it. Everybody else is just friends." On his tweet topics: "I don't usually like to put personal stuff on there. Most of what I'll tweet about is baseball stuff." On his other electronic gadgets: "I have an ipad, but the only time I watch it is to watch movies on flights." Minnesota Twins: Cole De Vries first-pitching start still uncertain Mike Berardino / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 The forearm tightness that cut short Cole De Vries' final spring start remains an issue and could keep him from making his scheduled start Sunday, April 7, in Baltimore. De Vries estimated he was limited to "75 percent" in a bullpen session Wednesday morning, April 3, throwing just fastballs and change-ups. Both the right-hander and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire used the same description for that session: "Not great." De Vries, who went 3-0 with a 0.53 earned-run average in seven spring outings (four starts), said he hoped to throw breaking pitches Friday. At that point, a determination will have to be made whether he takes the ball at Camden Yards or the Twins make other arrangements. Opening Day starter Vance Worley will come back on normal rest to start Saturday at Baltimore. "This is the first time I've ever had anything like this, so I don't really know what to expect," said De Vries, who played at Eden Prairie High School and the University of Minnesota. "I'm pretty optimistic." After Wednesday's bullpen, De Vries underwent "active release therapy" with team athletic trainers on his right forearm and biceps. "I was shocked at how much junk I had in there," De Vries said, "just inflammation and stuff from this little thing happening. That really loosened things up." Left-hander Pedro Hernandez is slated to start Sunday at home for Triple-A Rochester. Right-hander P.J. Walters was one of the final cuts of spring training, but he is starting the Rochester opener on Thursday, April 4. Right-hander Anthony Swarzak (ribs) would be eligible to come off the disabled in time to make a spot start Sunday, but he had his wisdom teeth removed Tuesday after a four-inning, 50-pitch outing in extending spring training. Gardenhire said the plan was for Swarzak to take the mound "one more time" before returning to the major league roster. Swarzak has 28 career starts in the majors, including five last season, but he probably wouldn't be stretched out enough to go more than pitches. Twins general manager Terry Ryan wasn't interested in discussing contingency plans. He clearly is hoping De Vries will be able to take the ball. Briefly Right-hander Tim Wood, on the disabled list with a minor strain in his rotator cuff, has resumed long-tossing in Fort Myers, Fla. Wood, who underwent an MRI last week, is targeting Saturday for a bullpen session.... Rookie center fielder Aaron Hicks went 0 for 3 with two more strikeouts in the Twins' 3-2 victory over Detroit on Wednesday. He is now 0 for 7 with five strikeouts and two walks to start his career.... Reserve outfielder Darin Mastroianni, whose last game action had come March 25 due to a bruised left shin, pinch ran for Josh Willingham in the eighth and replaced him in left field.... Right-hander Samuel Deduno (groin) is playing catch in Fort Myers. He is on the disabled list at Triple-A Rochester. For Twins Joe Mauer, marriage includes Teen Mom viewing Bob Sansevere / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 One thing... ~ 9 ~

10 Twins catcher Joe Mauer has been married since early December. As anyone who has walked down the aisle knows, getting married is lifechanging. I asked Mauer to name just one thing that has changed since his marriage. Here he is... On a life-changing experience: "Channel surfing might be a little different. I know I've had to see 'Teen Mom' a couple of times. I wasn't too thrilled about that. Other than that, it's been pretty good. If that's the biggest thing, I think we're doing all right." Minnesota Twins: Aaron Hicks picks 32 for Dave Winfield, dad and more Mike Berardino / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 Aaron Hicks opted to wear No. 32 for a "combination" of reasons, the Twins' rookie center fielder said Wednesday, April 3. Partly, it was to honor Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield, a mentor to his father, Joe, during the latter's time as a San Diego Padres outfield prospect. Winfield wore No. 31 when he was with San Diego, and Joe wore it in the Padres' system. Hicks wore that number in Double A for them. Now that Hicks has made the jump directly to the Twins, he has switched to the number the St. Paul native wore for the Twins in Hicks' father also wore No. 32 during his minor-league career. "I'm happy with it," Hicks said. "It's a combination of my dad liking it, and also it's the next number up, (my dad) saying, 'Just be better than I was.' I was, actually making it to the big leagues. There's just a lot that goes with it." Seventeen other Twins have worn No. 32 over the years, including radio analyst Dan Gladden ( ). Most recently, it belonged to catcher Rene Rivera in Hicks, who wore No. 5 in Class A and rookie ball, had ruled out No. 31 before spring training, figuring it belonged to reliever Alex Burnett. That number freed up when Burnett was shipped to the minor leagues (and subsequently lost on waivers to the Toronto Blue Jays) last week, but by then Hicks already had talked himself into No. 32. "I kind of knew the history before spring training started," Hicks said. "This just fell into place, I would say." Hicks said he noticed a few fans wearing his No. 32 jersey on Opening Day. "Of course," he said, smiling, "they were all my family members." Khadijah Hicks, Aaron's older sister, wore her No. 32 jersey while winning a three-way dance-off early in Wednesday's game. Her brother was laughing in center field as he watched his sister on the video board, dancing atop the first-base dugout to Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." She was introduced to the crowd by her first name only and still won the spectators' unofficial voting in a landslide. Twins 3, Tigers 2: Eduardo Escobar s walk-off double caps ninth-inning rally Mike Berardino / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 Despite a sterling debut for starter Kevin Correia -- two earned runs allowed over seven innings -- the Twins were in danger of falling for the second straight game to the defending American League champions. Then a two-run, ninth-inning uprising, capped by Eduardo Escobar's two-run double to deep left-center, gave the Twins a walk-off victory. Three of the Twins' five hits came in the final three innings. MEANING: The Twins beat the Tigers for just the fifth time in 20 tries at Target Field since the start of They are in the series during that span. They send RHP Mike Pelfrey, barely 11 months removed from Tommy John surgery, to the mound Thursday afternoon in hopes of claiming the season-opening series. ETC.: Attendance was 22,963, the lowest attendance in Target Field's three-plus years.... Twins RF Chris Parmelee threw out Torii Hunter trying to go first to third on a single in the fifth inning. ~ 10 ~

11 Tom Powers: A cold day, but warm feelings for Twins and fans Tom Powers / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 It was cold and miserable, the Twins couldn't buy a clutch hit and some of the fans who stuck around until the end were so restless that they were daring one another to put their tongues on the metal railing. What a lousy afternoon it was turning out to be. And then in the span of maybe 60 seconds, the Twins were jumping up and down, music was blaring from speakers and fans were trying to free up their tongues so they could celebrate. "That's what baseball is all about," said Brian Dozier. "That's the beauty of it." "All it takes is two good swings," said Ron Gardenhire. Bang, single by Dozier, Jamey Carroll to third. Boom, double by Eduardo Escobar, Carroll and Dozier score to end it. Suddenly it was like, "What? Huh? Twins win? Twins win!" "It's a crazy game," noted Carroll. Sometimes it's crazy bad and sometimes it's crazy good. For the Twins, it turned out to be the latter. They were down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth and had mustered three lousy hits to that point. They appeared to be dead in the water. Or on the tundra, I should say. After Trevor Plouffe led off with a walk, Gardenhire sent in Carroll, his last available bench player, to pinch-run. Carroll stood on first base and hoped his body was thawed enough to be of some use on the base paths. "I'd been running up and down in the hallway," he said. "But I don't think the toes ever got warm until I got into the weight room afterward." Parmelee flied out, but then Dozier singled to right-center, sending Carroll to third. And before the crowd could digest the fact that the Twins were still, somehow, miraculously in the ballgame, Eduardo Escobar hit a drive over the center fielder's head, scoring both runners and ending the game. It had the effect of a thunderbolt flashing across calm skies. There were gasps from every direction. Escobar swung at the very first pitch and hit the ball as hard as he could. "I put a good swing on it," he said through an interpreter afterward. The Tigers outfielders misplayed it. Even though it hit way back near the base of the fence, somebody should have had it. But there was a miscommunication problem as no one felt sure enough to call for it. The most interesting tidbit during this burst of activity was Dozier's action on the base paths. If nothing else, Escobar's long fly should have scored Carroll with the tying run from third. And Dozier likely could have tagged up and gone to second. After all, both Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks were drifting back as if they had a bead on the ball. But Dozier wasn't having any of that. He was already past second base. He wasn't about to return to first and tag, even as his teammates were screaming at him from the dugout to get back. "Everybody was on the bench yelling 'tag up!' " Gardenhire said. "And he was the only one who did the right thing. I don't know how he figured out they were going to miss that ball, but he did. We were all yelling 'tag' because of the way the wind catches the ball there." When the ball dropped, Dozier kept motoring all the way home, handily beating the throw. "To be honest, I didn't hear anything," Dozier said of the pleas for him to tag up. "If you see an outfielder camped under the ball, then you retreat and tag. They kept drifting and drifting, and I went with them." As he raced toward third, Dozier said he saw coach Joe Vavra waving him home almost desperately. ~ 11 ~

12 "Our eyes met," Dozier said with a laugh. "He had that look: 'You've got to score!' It was good stuff." And then the Twins were running onto the field and jumping on Escobar. The whole episode took less than a minute from the time Escobar stepped into the batter's box. In that time, the day went from awful to wonderful for the Twins and their frostbitten fans. "To get a win here at home for the people who braved this cold, stayed out there, it was really exciting at the end," Gardenhire said. Frigid, uncomfortable and, ultimately, exciting. Minnesota Twins: Detroit s doormats? Not so fast. Mike Berardino / PioneerPress.com 4/3/13 That was quite a comeback win the Twins staged on a chilly afternoon for the smallest crowd in Target Field history. It also was quite a statement. Before Eduardo Escobar lofted a two-run, wind-aided double off closer Phil Coke for a 3-2 walk-off win, the high-powered Tigers were two outs away Wednesday, April 3, from extending their recent domination over a divisional doormat. This would have made it 16 Detroit wins in the past 20 meetings in Twins Territory, including a 4-2 win on Opening Day. Overall, the defending American League champions were closing in on a mark against the Twins since the start of Then came a leadoff walk to Trevor Plouffe and a one-out single for Brian Dozier, and Escobar followed with the second game-ending hit of his young career. The other came last June against the Milwaukee Brewers as a member of the Chicago White Sox. "Last year is behind us," Dozier said. "We've got a dang good ballclub, I can promise you that." That remains to be seen, but getting a pair of quality starts -- from Vance Worley and Kevin Correia -- to open the year is certainly a good sign. On Wednesday, Correia scattered seven hits and a walk over seven innings in his Twins debut. He threw 63 of his 97 pitches for strikes, went to a three-ball count just three times and was mostly masterful. "Correia threw fantastic for us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It was just a great performance." Signed to a two-year, $10 million contract this offseason, the veteran right-hander allowed just two earned runs on a pair of RBI singles by Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera. The Twins were unable to scratch out a run in 10 combined innings against Detroit's top two starters: Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. All five of their runs this season have come in those eight frames the Tigers' bullpen was asked to cover, including Wilkin Ramirez's two-out pinch-hit double that scored Trevor Plouffe in Wednesday's seventh inning. That led to a humorous postgame exchange between Escobar and Ramirez, who was translating for him, about whose double was better. Escobar said it had to be the one Ramirez hit off right-hander Brayan Villareal, taking a fastball the other way and just inside the bag at first. "His started the rally," Escobar said. Ramirez disagreed. "Of course, it was his," he said. "His won the game." ~ 12 ~

13 That hit, which left the Twins 3 for 18 with runners in scoring position this year, sent them streaming out of their dugout in celebration. They had six walk-off victories last season, even while losing 96 games and suffering a second straight last-place finish. Days like Wednesday, when their $81 million product was able to outlast the $149 million juggernaut that has outspent all but four franchises, help the Twins' confidence. Especially with just 22,963 shivering souls on hand for a rare home win over the Tigers. "I haven't been here, so I don't really know," Correia said, "but I've been on teams where there's obvious domination of one team against another." It's probably too soon to call Correia a Tiger killer, but he pitched extremely well against them during interleague play the past few years. Wednesday's outing dropped his earned-run average against Detroit to 3.15 in four career starts, all since the start of He has 12 strikeouts and just two walks against an all-star-laden lineup, one that added ex-twin Torii Hunter this winter. Thursday, the Twins send out Mike Pelfrey in hopes of securing their first home series victory against the Tigers since "That's the key to staying in a playoff race -- winning series, one after another," Correia said. "Now we have a chance to win a series." Wait a second... playoff? Guess it was just that kind of day. Minnesota Twins Liam Hendriks ready for Baltimore after close call Mike Berardino / PioneerPress.com 4/4/13 Liam Hendriks knows he is fortunate to be making his first start of the season Friday, April 5, at Baltimore. Taking a line drive off his pitching hand in his final spring start on March 26 could have put him out for weeks, if not months, after the righthander threw up his hands in self-defense. "It either would have got me straight in the nose or it would have hit there," at the base of his right pinky finger, he said. The finger was "puffy" initially, but there was never any pain. He was flexing the affected area immediately without restriction. He was able to throw his regular bullpen, then get another 76 pitches under his belt on Sunday (56 in a minor league game, 20 more in the bullpen). So, did anyone tell the Aussie he would have been better off --professionally, at least -- letting that ball smack him in the nose instead of the hand? "Couple people, actually," he said. "My fiancee (Kristi Anweiler) was one of them. She said, 'Well, you need some new teeth. You should have just taken it.' She's a sweetheart." The comedic couple has set Nov. 23 as a wedding date. ~ 13 ~

14 Escobar comes up big as Twins walk off Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com 4/3/13 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins notched their first victory of the 2013 season in dramatic fashion, as Eduardo Escobar lifted Minnesota to a 3-2 win over the Tigers with a walk-off, two-run double off Phil Coke in the ninth inning on Wednesday at Target Field. Escobar, who came into the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, laced the first pitch he saw from Coke deep into left field to score both pinch-runner Jamey Carroll and Brian Dozier to hand the Twins the win. At 1-1, it's the first time the Twins have been.500 since 2010, as they got off to bad starts in both '11 and '12 and never recovered. "It was a heck of way to win a ballgame," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You just have to keep playing, and that's what we did today. It's a big boost out there to get a win under your belt against a great team over there. That was fun baseball." Escobar entered the game after Wilkin Ramirez served as a pinch-hitter for shortstop Pedro Florimon in the seventh inning. Ramirez plated the Twins' first run with an RBI double off reliever Brayan Villarreal. Escobar made his second at-bat of the season a memorable one, as he lifted the ball to deep left field, and it kept carrying before dropping in near the wall between Andy Dirks and Austin Jackson for a two-run double. "It was a fastball right over the middle," Escobar said, with Ramirez acting as his translator. "It was just my first swing, and I got it right down the middle on the first pitch. I thought I did my job, because I hit it in the air and hit it far enough, but I didn't even think it was going to go that far and bring the other run in." Dozier, who was at first base after singling to right field on a 1-2 fastball that advanced Carroll to third with one out, made the proper read on the fly ball and was able to beat the throw home to score the winning run. "The ball carried pretty good, but off the bat, it sounded like he hit it pretty good," Coke said. "I was watching it, but with the shadow changing and the sun, I couldn't tell exactly what the ball did. I thought it bounced in the bullpen. I thought I gave up a homer." But the walk-off hit wouldn't have been possible without a solid Minnesota debut from right-hander Kevin Correia. Correia, who signed a two-year deal worth $10 million this offseason to join the Twins, gave up two runs on seven hits -- all singles -- and a walk over seven strong innings. "It was fun," Correia said. "I wasn't really nervous about it all, but it's a beautiful park, and that's the first time I've gotten to pitch here in my career. So I was pretty comfortable immediately. I wasn't trying to get a feel for any of the park or anything. It's a good pitcher's park, and I was comfortable on the mound from pitch number one." Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera, last year's American League MVP, brought home both runs for the Tigers against Correia. The first run came in the third inning on an RBI single after Jackson walked with two outs and Torii Hunter singled. The hit went under the glove of Trevor Plouffe at third and a diving Florimon at shortstop. Cabrera came through again with another two-out RBI single in the fifth, when he laced a ball to right field to score Omar Infante, who singled and reached third on a single from Hunter. But Hunter was thrown out by right fielder Chris Parmelee while trying to advance to third to end the inning. "That guy's a tough out," Correia said. "He's the best hitter in the world. He didn't hit the ball hard off of me. He's just so good. That's what he's trying to do is hit it where he hit it and get those RBIs." ~ 14 ~

15 The Twins' bullpen also came through, as Jared Burton and closer Glen Perkins each tossed a perfect inning in relief of Correia. It set the stage for Minnesota's comeback in the ninth, which was the club's first walk-off win since Sept. 13 of last season against the Royals. "It's a new year," Dozier said. "It's just our second game in. Losing on Opening Day was a tough one, but at the same time it was good to get in the win column, and now we have the chance to win the series tomorrow." Eduardo Escobar s two-run double in ninth lifts Twins past Tigers AP / ESPN.com 4/3/13 MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota went scoreless against another Detroit starter, and the top of the Tigers' lineup was constantly on base. This time, the Twins finished the rally they failed to complete on Opening Day. And the last guy off the bench got it done. Eduardo Escobar's two-run double with one out in the ninth inning lifted the Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday. "You lose the first game, and some people think the world is going to end," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But you get a lot of chances to win baseball games.... You just have to keep playing, and that's what we did today. It's a big boost out there to get a win under your belt against a great team over there. That was fun baseball." After Joaquin Benoit issued a leadoff walk to Trevor Plouffe, reliever Phil Coke took over in the ninth. Coke (0-1) recorded the first out, but Brian Dozier's single advanced pinch-runner Jamey Carroll to third. Then Escobar drove a first-pitch fastball from Coke to the deepest part of the park, where it bounced on the warning track in front of the bullpens in left-center field. Both runners scored easily as the rebuilding Twins enjoyed their first on-field celebration of the season. They also spoiled another strong Tigers pitching performance, this one by Anibal Sanchez after Justin Verlander threw five shutout innings on Monday. "He hit it a lot better than I thought," Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson said. "I didn't think it was going out. I kept running, and it seemed like it kept carrying." The AL Central champion Tigers began the season without a set closer after Jose Valverde wasn't brought back. Coke has been the head of the committee so far. The left-hander notched a two-up, two-down save in the opener. "That's our plan when we're facing a closer: Get up there ready to hit," Dozier said. Darin Downs also allowed a run in the sixth on pinch-hitter Wilkin Ramirez's double, after Tigers relievers gave up runs in shaky sixth and seventh innings on Monday. Valverde, a three-time All-Star who struggled in the playoffs, became a free agent and wasn't re-signed. Hard-throwing prospect Bruce Rondon was sent to Triple-A. So the bullpen became the biggest concern of the spring for the Tigers in their attempt to return to the World Series -- and win it this time. The gametime temperature was 46 degrees, up 11 from the opener, but the afternoon winds were still whipping across the diamond. The announced attendance was 22,963, the smallest crowd in terms of tickets sold since Target Field opened in Sanchez surrendered two hits and three walks while striking out five, a line almost identical to Verlander's on opening day. Detroit star Miguel Cabrera, the reigning American League MVP and Triple Crown winner, has driven in three runs in two games. He hit a pair of two-out RBI singles, one in the third and one in the fifth. Torii Hunter, the former Twins star, has adjusted well to the No. 2 spot in the batting order with his new team. He hit opposite-field singles right before Cabrera's run-scoring hits. But Twins starter Kevin Correia otherwise had a fine AL debut. The right-hander got the first two outs in each of those innings. Correia, signed as a free agent after spending the last two seasons with Pittsburgh, finished seven innings and was charged with seven hits and one walk. Jared Burton pitched a perfect eighth and Glen Perkins (1-0) needed only 10 pitches in a perfect ninth inning for the victory. ~ 15 ~