Minnesota Twins Daily Clips. Sunday, September 18, 2016

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1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Sunday, September 18, 2016 Granderson's two homers spoil Buxton's extra-inning heroics as Twins fall to Mets in 12. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1 Twins' Miguel Sano gets good report after MRI on back. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 2 Is Twins Brian Dozier too good not to trade?. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 3 Twins fall to Mets on walk-off HR in 12th. MLB.com (Knobler) p. 5 Despite loss, Buxton's September ascent continues. MLB.com (Knobler) p.6 Twins hope to get Sano back during home stand. MLB.com (Knobler) p. 7 Twins lose to Mets on Granderson s walk-off home run in 12th. Associated Press p. 8 Granderson's two homers spoil Buxton's extra-inning heroics as Twins fall to Mets in 12 La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune September 18, 2016 NEW YORK Nothing worked for the Twins on Saturday night. Ervin Santana carried a lead into the late innings but didn t come away with a decision. Byron Buxton hit a clutch home run in extra innings only to be outclutched by Curtis Granderson. Brandon Kintzler couldn t convert a save situation like he has for most of the season. And Ryan O Rourke, given a favorable matchup, surrendered the deciding run. It was one gut-wrenching night in Queens for the Twins, who suffered a 3-2 loss in 12 innings to the Mets on Granderson s walk-off homer off O Rourke. Granderson hit two home runs in extra innings, causing the Twins to leave Citi Field bitter after their 94th loss of the season It all transpired after Santana exited after the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead only to see the Twins use seven relievers after that. Santana might have been able to pitch the eighth but used 25 pitches in the seventh inning, putting his total at 104 for the game. Given the time of season, Twins manager Paul Molitor decided to go to the bullpen. One inning later, the score was tied and Santana had his third consecutive no-decision. It s tough, Buxton said. [Santana] pitched an excellent game. And just to come up short like that we did, it hurts. You go out there and play hard and things don t go our way, [but] stuff like that happens. And the Twins might lose Eddie Rosario for a few games after he bruised his thumb while diving into first in the 10th inning. The thumb was swollen after the game, but Rosario said he didn t think it was broken. Yoenis Cespedes hit an RBI single off Ryan Pressly in the eighth to tie the score 1-1. Pressly threw a slider that was off the plate, but Cespedes got enough of it to serve it to center. Buxton appeared to come through with one of his biggest moments when he turned on a 96-miles-per-hour fastball from Hansel Robles in the 11th and hit it out to left for his seventh home run of the season. The Twins led 2-1 and had Kintzler warming in the bullpen.

2 I just put a good swing on the ball and it carried out, Buxton said. Mets fans were streaming for the exits when Granderson hit Kintzler s 0-1 pitch just over the wall in left to tie the score. Kintzler needed to strike out Jose Reyes with the bases loaded to get out of the inning. It was Kintzler s third blown save in 17 appearances. Molitor had to use Michael Tonkin for the fourth time in six games to get the first two outs of the 12th. Granderson was back up, and Molitor examined the situation. Granderson was batting.213 against lefthanded pitchers. Lefthanded hitters were 0-for-18 against O Rourke since he was called up on Aug. 13. O Rourke got the count to 2-2 but missed with a fastball. With the count full, O Rourke went with his trusty slider. Granderson connected and sent the ball over the wall in right for the third walk-off home run of his career. O Rourke squatted on the mound in disbelief. I threw my best, O Rourke said, and he beat me. It was a bad beat for the Twins. You look for the ability to win those close games when you take leads, and we gave up one run in the eighth and Granderson just had a big night, Molitor said. It s tough. Those guys battled. The offense hasn t been there the last couple of nights when we have pitched well enough to win. Twins' Miguel Sano gets good report after MRI on back La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune September 18, 2016 NEW YORK The Twins received encouraging news about Miguel Sano and his sore back. Sano had a magnetic resonance imaging exam Friday that came back relatively clean. There was a little sign of an old injury that they are not concerned about, manager Paul Molitor said. Sano, who is batting.236 with 23 home runs and 60 RBI, will continue his treatments in the Twin Cities while taking light swings. The Twins hope he can take batting practice on the field with the team Tuesday. If that goes well we hope to see him back in the lineup by midweek, Molitor said. Sano left Monday s game at Detroit because of a sore lower right back. The Twins revealed at the time that Sano awoke a few days earlier with a sore back but was able to play with it up until Monday. They aren t going to rush him back in the lineup but would like for him to play as much as he can over the final weeks of the season. The Twins could use his presence in the lineup. The combination of Sano being injured and the Twins playing in a National League park have led to lineups with Kurt Suzuki and Eduardo Escobar batting fifth. You try to prepare yourself to play the year out, Molitor said. If he s physically able to play, it won t be a very long layoff, roughly close to a week. You send a message that you want your guys to play the year out if they are physically capable. Rotation change 2

3 Molitor announced righthander Tyler Duffey will be pushed back in the rotation so he can work on some things during his bullpen sessions. Kyle Gibson will start Sunday before the team has a scheduled off day Monday. Hector Santiago will start on Tuesday when the Twins open a series against the Tigers and be followed by Jose Berrios and Ervin Santana. Gibson will return to start Friday when the Twins play host to Seattle, followed by Duffey. Molitor said the arrangement enables Santiago and Santana, the team s most effective starters of late, to face the Tigers, a division foe in the playoff chase. Berrios is 2-7 with an 8.88 ERA through 12 starts. Only seven other pitchers have had an ERA higher than that through 12 starts in a season. That includes Sean Bergman, who had a 9.66 ERA in 14 starts with the Twins in Berrios has altered his windup to try to help him throw more strikes, but the Twins plan to show him drills he can use during the offseason to smooth out his delivery. Taking it on the chin Suzuki was available Saturday, but he probably benefited from a day off from catching after he took two more foul balls off his mask during Friday s game. That came two days after he received five stitches on his chin after a foul ball got him in Detroit. He doesn t show that he s hurting very often, Molitor said. But that second one last night, he was not doing very well. Molitor said they made sure Suzuki wasn t experiencing concussion-like symptoms before allowing him to stay in the game. Juan Centeno started behind the plate on Saturday and John Ryan Murphy will start on Sunday. No degrom in mix On a night in which wigs resembling his flowing locks were given to fans at Citi Field, Jacob degrom felt pain while playing catch in the outfield. Soon, the Mets announced that the righthander will need elbow surgery and is done for the year. It s a huge blow to the Mets chances in the postseason; degrom was set to return from a forearm strain Sunday against the Twins. Righthander Gabriel Ynoa will start instead. Is Twins Brian Dozier too good not to trade? Mike Berardino Pioneer Press September 18, 2016 As the losses mount and the home runs soar, the odds seem to increase that Brian Dozier might be hitting his way right out of the Twin Cities. True, he is under contract for two more seasons at the bargain rate of a combined $15 million. But that only makes him more valuable should the incoming baseball-operations administration choose to make him available on the open market. And yes, he had a starring role in the 3 1/2-minute marketing video the Twins sent out to their sagging season-ticket base in recent days. But that only increases his appeal to teams seeking a popular, outgoing presence around which to build a marketing campaign. The Atlanta Braves, for instance, are just a short road trip from Dozier s Mississippi roots in Hattiesburg and Fulton. They are moving into a team-funded stadium in the northern suburbs, and doing so with the second-worst record in the major leagues and a trove of unproven young pitching prospects. Only the Twins have been worse in What s that, you say? Those life-size cardboard cutouts of a smiling Dozier that were produced during his all-star season of 2014 have reappeared this month on the club level at Target Field? Maybe that s just the Twins way of extracting maximum value from their gritty little second baseman s historic season before reality sets in and they decide to move him for a boatload of young pitching. Stack up all of these theories and place them before Dozier as he sits at his locker before a recent game, and you ll get a knowing smile and a wink. 3

4 Oh, really? Dozier said. I don t read too much into that. All I can know is I m here for two more years. If only it were that simple. VALUABLE EXEMPLAR Twins manager Paul Molitor, who shared the stage with Dozier and team president Dave St. Peter in that unusual marketing video, has come to appreciate his second baseman even more this season. It s not only the power production, which has skyrocketed since a two-game benching in late May, it s the nightly example he displays for a team buried in the standings. Entering a weekend interleague series at the New York Mets, Dozier had made 102 consecutive starts, just one of them at designated hitter. Since that mental break against the Kansas City Royals on May 23-24, Dozier had been removed early for just 10 defensive innings. As his run has continued it s been harder to take him out, Molitor said. I ve talked to him a couple times here in the last two or three weeks about at what point does it make sense to DH or eliminate four at-bats in a given game and try to make sure he stays strong through the end. You can guess how those conversations have gone. He s rather adamant that he feels really good, Molitor said. How it unfolds here and who we play and the meaningfulness of the game, whether he s going to get a day or two (off) here, I m not sure. But no, he wants to be in there. With a dozen rookies getting time in the field or on the mound this season, the example of one of the team s few proven veterans has been invaluable. I think there are always things for young players to watch from your guys that have a little longer resume, Molitor said. How they handle the ups and downs and the adversities. We make that a point every year in spring training to the young guys. We tell them to look around the room and we point out the guys and what they ve been able to accomplish and give them reason to make sure they re paying attention. Seeing Dozier throw his body around in the field and run the bases with abandon and work opposing pitchers for walks rather than simply swing for the fences each time? Those are the type of lessons that could stick with an observant young teammate for an entire career. It s my job to lead, Dozier said. It s very tough. We have a lot of guys that haven t had experience up here, not just experience winning up here, because I haven t even really had that until last year, and even at that not even the playoffs. There s a lot to be said for experience when you have a lot of people on the field that are inexperienced at trying to win baseball games at the highest level in the world. With injuries robbing the Twins of veterans such as Glen Perkins, Phil Hughes, Trevor Plouffe and more recently Joe Mauer, the emphasis on Dozier has only became greater. Brian has put together almost an indescribable season considering where he started and where he was after two months, Molitor said. You hope people are paying attention. WINNING COMES FIRST No doubt the rest of baseball is watching, even with the Twins on track to draft first overall next June for the first time since taking Mauer in 2001 and just the third time ever. The first time was 1983, when a little-known former minor-league infielder named Scott Boras advised college pitcher Tim Belcher to turn down the Twins $100,000 bonus offer, which he did. Belcher went to the New York Yankees in the secondary phase of the draft the following winter. Will the Twins, in desperate need of pitching and with young infielder Jorge Polanco best suited for second base, make Dozier available this offseason? A steady flow of top scouts has made its way through the press room at Twins games this month in part to prepare for just that possibility. At 29, they all agree, Dozier is smack in the middle of his prime. And while he probably won t be a 40-homer man going forward, he has averaged 35 doubles, 27.5 homers, 96 runs and 667 plate appearances over the past four seasons. 4

5 There s also that highly appealing contract, which gave the eighth-round draft pick lifelong financial security when he signed it in the spring of 2015, giving up three cracks at arbitration in exchange for a $20 million total guarantee. How much more would Dozier be worth now via arbitration if he d gone year to year? Then again, the Twins were unable to buy out any of Dozier s free-agent years at the time of the deal. The cost for those, one might safely assume, now starts at $15 million a year and quickly heads north. First things first, Dozier told the Pioneer Press. You need to see after the season who is going to be our GM, which obviously plays a huge part in it. Regardless of who is running baseball operations, the Twins would likely discuss the parameters of a possible extension with Dozier and agent Damon Lapa before dealing away such a vital piece of their present and future. I know talking with (interim GM Rob Antony) he knows I d love to be here for a very, very long time, Dozier said. We made that clear the past three or four years as we ve been talking about extensions and that kind of thing. But there s way too many (questions) and there s a lot of other things involved that have to take place rather than just for me to say, Hey, I m open. Let s do it. After being part of four 90-loss teams in his first five big-league seasons, Dozier would need to hear what the new timeline for contention might be before signing on. Will there be enough pitching in 2017? And with a dearth of free-agent mound options this winter, where do the Twins plan to find it? I want to win, Dozier said. I want to win more than ever. It s a point in my career that I want to have everybody on the same page to be dedicated to win and make sure to do that. That comes first. Twins fall to Mets on walk-off HR in 12 th Barry M. Bloom and Danny Knobler MLB.com September 19, 2016 NEW YORK -- Curtis Granderson became the first Mets player in club history to hit homers that both tied and won the game in extra innings on Saturday night, giving his club a 3-2, 12-inning victory over the Twins at Citi Field in a contest that had playoff implications for New York. Byron Buxton homered to lead off the top of the 11th against Mets reliever Hansel Robles and Granderson answered in the bottom of the inning with an opposite-field shot to left off Minnesota's Brandon Kintzler. Granderson then homered with two outs in the 12th against Ryan O'Rourke, a left-hander who had just come into the game to counter the lefty-swinging Granderson. It was the third walk-off homer of his career. It was only the second homer O'Rourke has given up to a left-handed hitter in his 49th appearance over two years. Left-handers were previously 0-for-18 against him this year. "I think it's the first time I've ever done it," said Granderson, referring to the homers in consecutive extra innings. "Somebody just asked me about it. It's really cool to have it happen and help us out at this point." Yoenis Cespedes tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI single to center. Twins starter Ervin Santana pitched seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball but received little run support again. He struck out nine and left with the Twins leading, 1-0. Both Minnesota runs scored on home runs, with Eddie Rosario hitting his out in the fourth inning off Mets starter Seth Lugo, who pitched five innings, allowing four hits and the single run. The homer into the right-field seats was Rosario's 10th of the season. Buxton's homer in the 11th was his seventh. "You look for the ability to win these close games," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Granderson just had a great night." The Mets are now tied with the Giants at for the National League's top Wild Card spot with 14 regular-season games remaining after the Cardinals came from behind in the ninth to beat the Giants in San Francisco. However, the Mets do hold the tiebreaker with the Giants, so if the 5

6 two teams finished tied and ahead of the Cardinals, the NL Wild Card Game would be held at Citi Field. The Mets and Giants are both two games ahead of the Cardinals. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Rally caps: Ryan Pressly replaced Santana in the eighth inning and immediately allowed a Jose Reyes single. Reyes moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on an Asdrubal Cabrera grounder. With first base open, Molitor had the option of walking Cespedes intentionally and pitching to Granderson. Pressly pitched to Cespedes, who tied the game with a single to center. Bull Dozier: Brian Dozier might have racked up a hit in his 21st consecutive game (a third-inning infield single), but his fourth-inning at-bat was a bigger one for the Mets, as Lugo struck him out swinging with runners on second and third to end a huge threat. The 21-game hitting streak is the longest by a Twin since Ben Revere hit in 21 straight in Santana's long seventh: The Twins starter cruised through the first 6 2/3 innings on 88 pitches, but he had to work out of a bases-loaded jam after a two-out double was followed by two walks in the seventh. While he got out of the inning by striking out pinch-hitter Michael Conforto, the extra work ran his pitch count to 104 and forced Molitor to go to the bullpen. QUOTABLE "The slider is probably my best pitch, so I was going to go with that. After two of them, I thought maybe a fastball would surprise him. When it got to 3-2, I threw my best, and he beat me." -- O'Rourke, who gave up the game-winning home run on a slider SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Granderson's homers gave the Mets 201 on the season, breaking the club record set in Granderson became the second player in history to hit game-tying and walk-off home runs in consecutive innings in extra innings, joining John Mayberry Jr., who accomplished the feat for the Phillies against the Marlins on June 4, 2013, with a solo homer in the 10th and a walk-off grand slam in the 11th. The only other player in history to hit homers in consecutive extra innings was Art Shamsky, who did so for the Reds against the Pirates on Aug. 12, 1966, in the 10th and 11th innings. But the Pirates won that game. FROM THE TRAINER'S ROOM Rosario left the game in the 10th inning with a jammed left thumb, sustained while diving headfirst into first base trying to beat out a ground ball. He'll be re-examined Sunday morning, but isn't expected to play in Sunday's series finale. While there was some concern that he may have broken the thumb, Rosario said he doesn't think that's the case. "It hurts, but I'm fine," Rosario said through an interpreter. "I can do all movements with my fingers, so I think I got lucky." WHAT'S NEXT Twins: RIght-hander Kyle Gibson goes after his second straight win in Sunday's 12:10 p.m. CT series finale at Citi Field. Mets: With Jacob degrom scratched and out for the season because of ulnar nerve issues in his right elbow, the Mets will close the three-game series against the Twins in a 1:10 p.m. ET start with right-hander Gabriel Ynoa making his first Major League start. He'll be the Mets' 11th starting pitcher this season. Despite loss, Buxton's September ascent continues Danny Knobler MLB.com September 18, 2016 NEW YORK -- It could have been a nice win for the Twins, and it could have been a moment to remember for Byron Buxton. It could have been and it would have been, if not for Curtis Granderson. Granderson gets the big headlines, and deservedly so, after his two extra-innings home runs tied and then finished off Saturday night's 3-2, 12- inning victory for the Mets, who are battling for a postseason spot. Buxton is an afterthought, even though his 11th-inning home run could have won the game for the Twins. "To come up short, it hurts," Buxton said. 6

7 The Twins did come up short, but if what they're seeing from Buxton this month is any indication, their prized rookie may be making some big progress. With two more hits on Saturday, Buxton raised his average to.333 in September, and 11 of his 19 hits this month have gone for extra bases. He came into Saturday in a 2-for-15 slump, but he ended the night with his sixth home run of the month. In the Majors, only teammate Brian Dozier (nine) and Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez (seven) have hit more home runs in September. "I feel a little better, but I've still got a lot of work to do," Buxton said. "I'm slowing the game down a little." Buxton did exactly what he needed to do in the 11th inning, working Mets reliever Hansel Robles to a 2-2 count before driving a 96-mph fastball far over the left-field fence. "I put a pretty good swing on the ball, and it happened to go out," Buxton said. The transition to the Major Leagues hasn't been a simple one for the 22-year-old center fielder, ranked by MLBPipeline.com before this season as the No. 2 prospect in baseball. Buxton was hitting just.193 through 63 big league games this year when the Twins sent him back to the Minors on Aug. 7. He had just one home run and 80 strikeouts in 197 at-bats. Strikeouts have still been plaguing Buxton this month, who has gone down on strikes 20 times in 57 at-bats. When Buxton talks about what he needs to improve, making better contact tops the list. But the hits have started to come, and the power has come, too. "I'm just trying to continue encouraging him to play," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He's kind of learning to trust his ability more. We know he's got pop. It's figuring out who you're going to be at this level." It's easier to figure that out when you have a little success. A game like Saturday's should help, although it would have helped even more if the Twins had turned it into a win. That they didn't wasn't Buxton's fault. He gave them the 11th-inning lead, but closer Brandon Kintzler gave it right back when he surrendered the game-tying home run on his second pitch in the bottom of the 11th. An inning later, Granderson homered off Ryan O'Rourke to win it, and the Mets were celebrating. Buxton and the Twins were not Twins hope to get Sano back during homestand Danny Knobler MLB.com September 18, 2016 The MRI was good," manager Paul Molitor said Saturday. "There was just a little sign of an old injury. We're hoping he can do some light swinging over the weekend, and take batting practice Tuesday." Molitor said he wants to see Sano return, even though there's little time left in the season. The Twins open their final homestand of the season on Tuesday, with three games against the Tigers followed by three with the Mariners before closing the campaign with a six-game road trip. "It sends the message that you play the year out," he said. Sano has played 106 games this season, with a.236 batting average and 23 home runs. 7

8 Twins lose to Mets on Granderson s walk-off home run in 12 th Associated Press September 18, 2016 NEW YORK Curtis Granderson hit a solo home run with two outs in the 12th inning after also connecting for a tying shot in the 11th, lifting the New York Mets over the Twins 3-2 on Saturday night hours after they announced star right-hander Jacob degrom is likely done for the season. The defending National League champs entered with a two-game lead over St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth. The Cardinals played later against the Giants, who were one game ahead of the Mets for the first wild card. Granderson pulled a 3-2 pitch from Ryan O Rourke (0-1) down the right-field line to win it, getting mobbed at home plate by teammates. Granderson led off the 11th with a drive that made it 2-all. Josh Edgin (1-0) pitched a scoreless 12th and got his first victory since June 1, DeGrom was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday and will probably miss the rest of the year because of an injury to the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. DeGrom was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday and will probably miss the rest of the year because of an injury to the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. Granderson s homer was the 201st by the Mets this season, breaking the team record set in It was his 28th home run this year and third career game-ender, including one on May 27 against the Dodgers. The Mets moved a season-high 10 games over.500 and have won 10 of their past 13. They ve won six straight against the Twins dating to After Minnesota s Byron Buxton hit a soaring homer for a 2-1 lead in the 11th, Granderson tied it in the bottom half off Brandon Kintzler. Yoenis Cespedes made it 1-1 with an RBI single off reliever Ryan Pressly in the eighth. Cespedes has 22 runs batted in since coming off the disabled list Aug. 19. Twins starter Ervin Santana struck out nine, walked two and allowed four hits over seven scoreless innings. Santana didn t allow a base runner until the fourth and permitted only three Mets past first base. The 33-year-old is 4-3 with a 2.56 earned-run average since the all-star break after beginning the season 1-7 with a 5.10 ERA over 12 starts. 8