Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Sunday, September 3, 2017

Twins erupt for 17 runs in shutting out Kansas City. Star Tribune (Ryan) p. 1 Jason Castro's return to Twins could come soon. Star Tribune (Ryan) p. 2 Twins' seven minor league clubs all likely playoff-bound for first time. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Souhan: Twins' Corrigan a Hall of Fame scout who can't quit the game. Star Tribune (Souhan) p. 4 Niko Goodrum is 13th Twins player to make major league debut this season. Star Tribune (Ryan) p. 5 Ever-steady Joe Mauer paces 17-0 Twins blowout of Royals. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6 Twins’ Byron Buxton reveals another secret to his success: choking up on the bat. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 7 Santana, Twins continue Wild Card push vs. KC. MLB.com (Jackson) p. 8 Twins rout KC to maintain 2nd WC advantage. MLB.com (Jackson & Flanagan) p. 8 Buxton returns, records fastest triple in 2017. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 10 Byron Buxton may have helped Kyle Gibson take the next step. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 10 Twins erupt for 17 runs in shutout win over Royals. Associated Press p. 11

Twins erupt for 17 runs in shutting out Kansas City

Megan Ryan | Star Tribune | September 3, 2017

When the Twins routed Kansas City on Saturday night, the goal wasn’t simply to win the game. No, it was obviously to erase that minus-16 run differential. “Yeah, actually, now we have a positive run differential … we make the playoffs,” starting pitcher Kyle Gibson joked after the Twins’ 17-0 victory, the largest shutout in team history. “It’s something that we don’t talk a whole lot about, honestly, because we take out five of the 130 games, we’re probably 40 runs above. So we’re not too worried about that.” With those 17 runs in front of an announced crowd of 33,413 at Target Field, the Twins are now plus-1 on the season — scoring 669 runs, giving up 668. That differential was as low as minus-75 on Aug. 3. Since then, they have outscored teams 194-118 in winning 20 of 29 games, averaging 6.7 runs per game. They then came out Saturday and scored 10 runs in the first two innings. It started with a Brian Dozier leadoff walk followed by an RBI double from Joe Mauer. Byron Buxton followed with an RBI triple. Jorge Polanco came through with an RBI double. And, well, it essentially went on from there. “Joe pretty much gave everybody a ball tonight because it was a team effort across the board, up and down the lineup,” manager Paul Molitor said. “Even as the lead began to mount, guys kept taking good at-bats. We were able to put up a big number. Keep Gibby undefeated with 17 runs. So that was good.” Mauer extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games. With another run-scoring single in the second inning, he tied Justin Morneau with 860 RBI, fifth-most in Twins history. By the time he left in the seventh inning, Mauer was 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. His batting average climbed to .303, the first time the three-time AL batting champion has been above .300 this late in a season since 2013. Molitor said he and Mauer spoke about keeping the first baseman in the game so he could reach the five-hit mark. Mauer’s eventual response, according to Molitor, was, “I appreciate it, but you know, I’ve done it.” Said Mauer: “First, I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ and then I was out there thinking about it. We had talked earlier before the game about maybe

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having a DH day tomorrow, and the more I thought about it, I came in and said, ‘Hey, if I was 3-for-4, what would you do?” And he said, ‘Well, I’d take you out.’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t want it to be about me. … Take me out, I get to play first tomorrow, right?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ So that’s kind of the trade-off.” Buxton, back in the lineup after a two-game absence because of a bruised bone in his left hand, finished with three hits, three runs and two RBI. Mitch Garver recorded his first career RBI to cap the four-run first, and Polanco had run-scoring hits in each of the first two innings. It wasn’t until after the Twins led 10-0 that they started hitting the ball over the fence against the beleaguered Royals pitching staff. Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning, his 27th home run on the season. Not to be outdone, Eduardo Escobar hit a solo homer in the fifth and a three-run shot in the seventh for his second career two-homer game. Escobar also had a two-run triple in the second. Gibson (9-10), twice demoted to the minor leagues this year, was coming off back-to-back solid starts for the first time in recent memory, and now he can add a third. He cruised through six innings, leaving after 81 pitches with the game well in hand. “Early on this season, I don’t know if I was just a little bit off or what it was, but this is the kind of pitching I would like to have all year,” Gibson said. “So I guess it’s good to have it at this time and not the other way around because you never want to feel like you’re the guy keeping the team from the playoffs.” Jason Castro's return to Twins could come soon

Megan Ryan| Star Tribune | September 2, 2017

Twins catcher Jason Castro said he was feeling good Saturday, and the team is hopeful he will be able to come off the disabled list in the coming days. Castro suffered a concussion Aug. 23 after taking two foul balls off his mask and has been on the seven-day DL ever since. “He had a good day yesterday,” manager Paul Molitor said before his team’s game with Kansas City at Target Field. “The intentions are to have him go out and participate in the full pregame workout today. Tomorrow, there’ll be no BP on the field, but he’ll probably have to repeat some of those things, if nothing else, in the cage. … “He’ll have to do some clearance on Monday as far as getting him eligible back to being on the roster. So we’re on good course for that, and hopefully, the next couple of days continue that, and we can think about getting him back there sometime early in the road trip.” Molitor said he is not leaning toward a rehab assignment for Castro, but the longer the player is out, the more the manager is tempted. He said it depends on the timing and how Castro feels, and if either the team or Castro needs the peace of mind. Sano in holding pattern Molitor didn’t have many updates on All-Star third baseman Miguel Sano, who has been on the DL since Aug. 21 because of a left shin stress reaction. “I keep asking when we might think about seeing him try to swing or some of those things, and we’re not there yet,” Molitor said. “The days he’s been out is increasing, and the days we have left are decreasing, so we’re kind of up against the clock here. But it’s just one of those things that, from a medical standpoint, we just can’t force it until it’s ready.” Molitor did say the Twins training staff has reached out to people who have gone through this rather atypical baseball injury, whether in the sport or not, and has tried to implement anything gleaned from that into speeding up Sano’s recovery. Rehab for Grossman Outfielder Robbie Grossman is heading to Class AAA Rochester on a rehab assignment after fracturing his left (throwing) thumb Aug. 17. Molitor said he watched the switch hitter hit lefthanded earlier Saturday. It might be the only side Grossman hits from when he first returns. “We’re going to get him some live pitching, in-game situations down there in Rochester for a couple days, continuing while he’s there to try to progress that right side,” Molitor said. “I don’t think there’s any way to predict of when we feel that he’s going to be able to step into the box righthanded, but we know that having him available for lefthanded would be a nice addition for us. So we’re going to get that on track, and

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hopefully, the righthand side comes along, too.” Grossman said he is feeling better and that his goal for this stint is to keep his lefthanded swing ready. “I want to be out there and be with my guys on the field,” he said. “And I’m doing everything I can to get back.” Santana near milestone Ervin Santana starts Sunday’s series finale against the Royals and will chip away at a milestone he hasn’t reached since 2013. The righthander sits at 176 innings pitched this season, 24 shy of the 200-inning mark he has achieved five times in his 13-year MLB career. And with possibly a half-dozen starts left for him this season, that goal doesn’t seem unattainable at all. “I think it’s every pitcher’s goal to go 200 innings, but the main thing for me is consistency, staying healthy for the whole year,” Santana said. “So that means a lot to me.” But he also said he’s “not at all” concerned with the landmark. “Just trying to get one game at a time, one pitch at a time, one inning at time,” he said. The last Twins pitchers to throw 200 innings were Carl Pavano (222) in 2011 and Phil Hughes (209 ⅔) in 2014. Twins' seven minor league clubs all likely playoff-bound for first time

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | September 2, 2017

There’s a chance, Paul Molitor said last week, that the Twins might send injured slugger Miguel Sano on a rehab assignment next week, even though minor league baseball’s regular season concludes on Monday. “We’ll take him,” said Jake Mauer, manager of the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts. “We can make room, no problem.” Actually, the Twins will have a full menu of possible destinations, should they decide to plant a big-league ringer in the middle of an affiliate’s lineup. For the first time in the organization’s history, it appears that all seven of the Twins’ minor league affiliates, from one-step-from-the-majors Rochester to the teenagers on the Twins’ Dominican rookie-level team, will qualify for their leagues’ playoffs next week. Hope they have stocked up on champagne. For the players who are old enough to drink, anyway. “It’s really been a remarkable season,” said Mauer, who’s finishing up his 10th season as a manager in the Twins’ farm system. “The whole organization takes pride in it, starting from the scouts who [signed] these players, to the staffs at every level. … It comes down to everybody pulling in the same direction, and that’s what the Twins organization does.” It’s never gelled at every level like this before, though. Five of the seven Twins’ minor league teams are in first place, the other two are in second, and only AAA Rochester and high-A Fort Myers had not clinched a postseason berth by Friday but needed only a couple of victories over the weekend to do so. Every team is at least 10 games above .500, led by Mauer’s 87-49 Lookouts, who clinched both halves of the split season on Friday, and the cumulative 433-300 record amounts to a .591 winning percentage, the best in baseball when all levels are included. “We want our players to be part of a winning culture,” said Brad Steil, the Twins’ minor league director. “We’re getting some recognition because of all our teams qualifying, but really, if you look at our last five years, we’ve been in the top five every year.” Playoff games provide an extra benefit, though, because the atmosphere changes — “The lose-or-go-home games, with something at stake, everything gets magnified and it really does give guys a chance to perform under pressure,” Mauer said — and because the goal changes, too. Minor leagues are about developing individual players for advancement, but winning a championship is a goal that pulls teams together. “It helps you develop team concepts, getting players to come together to play for each other,” Steil said. “Players are not halfhearted about it, they want to win. It’s important to them. And that has to help them as they move up the system.” You can see that on their faces. Chattanooga, then managed by Doug Mientkiewicz, won the system’s most recent title in 2015, beating Biloxi in the best-of-five Southern League finals 3-2, and in the victory photograph, Max Kepler is in the very front, beaming in delight. Kepler was also part of the 2014 Fort Myers Miracle, also managed by Mientkiewicz, which won the Florida State League title, and the 2012

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Elizabethton Twins, champions of the Appalachian League. And check out the other E-Twins who own rings from that season: Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, J.T. Chargois and the newly arrived Niko Goodrum. “Getting eight guys to the big leagues off a rookie-level team is remarkable,” Steil said. “A culture of winning, setting expectations, is part of that.” That’s why the Twins would like to deliver a title to Rochester; they haven’t won a AAA title since 2002, when they were affiliated with Edmonton. Or to Cedar Rapids, a level where the Twins’ last title came in Kenosha in 1985. Or the Gulf Coast League rookies, who have never won a GCL title. And the players? If they win a championship, at any level, it comes with jewelry. “It’s probably our funnest day of spring training, when we hand out the rings,” Steil said. “Fittingly, we do it in Champions Hall.” Souhan: Twins' Corrigan a Hall of Fame scout who can't quit the game

Jim Souhan | Star Tribune | September 2, 2017

How does a baseball scout make it to a hall of fame? You taunt Alex Rodriguez, or toss a prospect’s clothes into the middle of the clubhouse. You chart games, sitting behind high school, college, minor league, major league and Cape Cod League backstops, then stay up until 3 a.m. doing paperwork. You crunch numbers yet rely on a gut that sometimes lets you down. You take blame but every once in a while see that teenager you pegged as a star actually become one. You see something special in Chuck Knoblauch and rave about him until your colleagues see it, too. You suffer a stroke and lose a toe and keep working, knowing that working in this case involves hoping the teenagers you chart will someday win a championship for your organization so you can celebrate in anonymity. You try to predict the future while knowing that nobody really can. Last weekend, Larry Corrigan, 66, was inducted into the Fort Myers Miracle Professional Scouts Hall of Fame. Last winter, he was named Midwest Scout of the Year at baseball’s winter meetings. “L.C.,’’ as so many of us know him, was an All-America at Iowa State. He played in the Dodgers and Twins systems, coached at ISU and less-glamorous stops and wound up in scouting because when the game is in you you have to stay in the game. He signed on with the Twins in 1988 and wound up working as everything from minor league field coordinator to scouting director. The Pirates hired him away for four years, but he returned. Now he lives in Fort Myers, where he can catch spring training and Class A games at the Twins’ and Red Sox’s parks, then drive home and churn out more reports. “I’ve gotten a couple of honors this last year,’’ Corrigan said. “My wife doesn’t want me to say this, but you do wonder if it’s because I had a stroke and people want to be nice to me. Either way, it’s humbling.’’ I met Corrigan in 1993, just as the Twins were transitioning from the most admired franchises in baseball to one of the most pitied. During eight straight losing seasons, Corrigan remained a friendly, optimistic figure. He drafted Torii Hunter in 1993 and kept telling me the guy would make it. Eight years later it turned out he was right. He missed on prospects, too, as they all do, which drives scouts to stay up even later, either because of workload or worry. “Once a season starts — heck even in the offseason — I’m not very good at getting away from the game,’’ Corrigan said. “It’s a lot of hours in the day. It’s kind of a sickness. I’m such a wacko.’’

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Last year, “sickness’’ was no longer metaphorical. On May 3, he was working a game at Dickey-Stevens Park in Little Rock, Ark. He tried to write, and the pen slid across the paper. He spent a month in an Arkansas hospital, then a month rehabbing at home. Recently, he had to have a toe amputated because of a bone infection. “I’m back to being a normal human being who doesn’t have to go to the doc all the time,’’ he said. “We bought a place down here in Fort Myers, and I hopefully will live out the rest of my life here.’’ He really did lambaste Rodriguez after a high school game, and became the scourge of young players throughout the Twins’ system. Corrigan has adapted to the new age, and now holds a computer on his lap while watching games from behind the backstop. He never stops praising Terry Ryan, his old boss, and said of the Twins’ new bosses, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, “They have treated me awfully well. I’ve been in the hospital so much and every time I talk to them their voices are so beautifully positive.’’ A scout to the end, Corrigan reverted to scouting patios. “I’m way on Terry Ryan,’’ he said. “And I’m way on these guys.’’ Niko Goodrum is 13th Twins player to make major league debut this season

Megan Ryan | Star Tribune | September 2, 2017

Hello Twins readers, it’s still not La Velle or Phil. It’s Megan Ryan, here with a quick postgame blog for you. A little note that didn’t make it into my final notebook or gamer is that Niko Goodrum made his major league debut on Saturday at Target Field against the Kansas City Royals, becoming the 13th Twin to do so this year. I caught up with him for a bit in the clubhouse postgame. “Something I can check off the list that has been on my list for a long time,” Goodrum said. “It was an exciting moment for me, and I’m glad it happened with the Twins, the guys who drafted me.” The Twins took Goodrum in the second round of the 2010 draft as a shortstop, but he has turned into a utility player. The 25-year-old, though, had a long journey to the majors, detailed a bit here by La Velle. But the extra time it took to realize his dreams didn’t discourage Goodrum. “People always raised me to keep going. Whatever you want to do, just keep at it,” he said. “There’s no quit in it. Everyone has a different journey. Mine was eight minor league seasons.” Goodrum came in for second baseman Brian Dozier in the sixth inning. And while his two at-bats didn’t amount to anything, he did rather thrillingly break his bat on a grounder to first in his first time stepping up to an MLB plate. “The crowd yelling, that was good. I took that in,” Goodrum said. “But then once I hit the box, it was back to business. It was baseball. So I didn’t put any more into it. The pitchers have got to throw it, and I’ve got to try to hit it.” But my favorite part of my short convo with Goodrum was when I asked him if it was cool to have his first game in the majors be a huge 17-0 shutout, to which he replied with an at-first enthusiastic, “Yeah, man!” only to backtrack with a sheepish, “Sorry, not man,” when he realized I am, indeed, not a man. “It was exciting, a lot of runs,” Goodrum said. “This team’s real exciting to watch and fun to be around. And I know a lot of guys. So for my debut, yeah, it was pretty exciting.” And don’t worry about gendered expressions, Niko. I call everyone “bro,” so I honestly can’t judge.

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Ever-steady Joe Mauer paces 17-0 Twins blowout of Royals

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | September 2, 2017

Four hits into Saturday night’s 17-0 romp over the Kansas City Royals, Twins first baseman Joe Mauer had a quick conversation with manager Paul Molitor. “We talked about leaving him in the game to try to get a fifth hit, which doesn’t happen but every now and then,” Molitor said. “His response was, ‘I appreciate it, but I’ve done it. If you’re going to take me out, that’d be great,’ because he wants to play first again (Sunday).” Removed after six innings, the 34-year-old Mauer had to settle for his first four-hit game since June 2. His career-high for a single game remains five hits, last accomplished Aug. 14, 2013, five days before suffering a career-altering concussion. A day after Mauer attended Joe Nathan’s retirement news conference and later caught a ceremonial first pitch from the Twins’ career saves leader, the ex-catcher went out and played his usual low-key role. “What I like that Joe brings is he’s the same guy every day,” Molitor said. “He doesn’t get caught up in the big game, the big moment. He’s the same, and I think that’s something that’s resonated with a lot of our young guys to be able to model themselves in that type of mind-set of how you go about being successful in this game.” Mauer drove in single runs in his first two at-bats to tie close friend Justin Morneau for fifth on the Twins’ career RBI list with 860. Two more hits in the next two innings, both ringing singles up the middle, moved Mauer within 43 hits of 2,000 for his career. With 27 games left in this regular season, that would seem to be a tall order, but don’t put it past him. Pushing his batting average up to .303 for the first time this season — the highest it’s been this late in any season since August 2013 — Mauer finds himself in a postseason race for the second time in three years. “Joe’s been playing fantastic baseball,” Molitor said. “It’s really fun to watch him be a leader out there.” Stretching his hitting streak to 11 games and hitting .438 over the past 22 games, Mauer now has 28 career games of four-plus hits. “I don’t know that he’s really changed much,” Twins starter Kyle Gibson said after winning his third straight start. “He’s still hitting the ball hard and sticking with his approach. That’s what makes him Joe Mauer. He never gets out of himself. He never allows the situation to be too big. He just tries to put the barrel on the ball.” Winning for the eighth time in their past nine home games, the Twins wiped out a minus-16 season run differential and maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels for the second American League wild card. Until Saturday, their largest margin of victory in a shutout had been 16-0 over the Boston Red Sox on May 25, 1990. For the second time in two weeks, the Twins chased an opposing starting pitcher after he recorded just one out. In Saturday’s four-run first it was Cuban lefty Onelki Garcia, who lasted just 23 pitches in his first big-league start. On Aug. 20 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was lefty T.J. McFarland they pounded in a nine-run first, their first game after all-star third baseman Miguel Sano went down with a stress reaction in his left shin. Sano remains out, but the Twins have gone 9-5 during his latest absence. This is due to the “step-up mentality” Molitor has noticed. “A lot of teams deal with adversity, things you have to just kind of find your way through,” Molitor said. “I think these guys are looking forward to being the one who gets called upon.” Byron Buxton went 3 for 5, including an RBI triple in the first, in his return to the lineup after missing two starts with a bone bruise in his left hand. Brian Dozier added a three-run homer, his 27th, and Eduardo Escobar tripled, homered twice and tied a career high with six RBIs. Gibson (9-10) gave up five hits with five strikeouts in six scoreless innings, slashing his season earned-run average to 5.33. Over his past three starts, Gibson has posted a 1.37 ERA with 20 strikeouts and just two walks in 19 2/3 innings.

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Minus-75 in run differential at the start of play on Aug. 4, the Twins are 20-9 since Bartolo Colon’s complete-game victory that night. “Now that we’re a positive run differential, I guess we can make the playoffs,” Gibson joked. Twins’ Byron Buxton reveals another secret to his success: choking up on the bat

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press |September 2, 2017

Byron Buxton took early batting practice without issue Saturday and successfully talked his way back into the Twins lineup after a recent bone contusion in his left hand. “Not surprisingly, he’s been really pushing me about getting back in there,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “I needed a little bit of convincing just to see how he looked swinging the bat. It looks pretty good.” Buxton, pulled from Wednesday’s game after experiencing sharp pain near his hamate bone, hit off the tee Friday “just to get a feel of how much (pain) I could tolerate” but noted his hand felt better Saturday. “I wouldn’t say he’s 100 percent,” Molitor said, “but mental toughness is a really good quality to have as an athlete up here, and he’s full of that.” Buxton borrowed one of Robbie Grossman’s Axe bats just to see if it might help ease the vibration, but he decided not to carry it into game action. “Probably not,” Buxton said. “I’ve only swung with hickory in my career. It felt weird trying to find a different grip of a different bat. It wasn’t my bat, so it wasn’t comfortable to me from the get-go. The bat just wasn’t doing it for me.” Buxton plans to add extra grip tape to his bat handle to “take off some of that sting.” He also plans to continue choking up an inch or two on his 33 1/2-inch, 31 1/2-ounce bat, something he started doing right before the all-star break. “I was just playing around one day in the cage,” Buxton said. “I said, ‘I’m going to hit off the tee, but I’m going to choke up.’ First ball I hit was a line drive, and I was like, ‘No way.’ Hit it again — line drive. Ever since then, it’s been choked up.” Since a three-hit game on July 4, Buxton entered Saturday’s play hitting .349 with nine home runs over his past 36 games. Slugging .627 in that span, Buxton had driven in 24 runs with a .407 batting average on balls in play over his past 139 plate appearances. “I got a hit there and a hit here and I started hitting the ball a little harder,” Buxton said. “I was lining out and getting the ball out of the air more. In my head, I felt I had a lot more bat control when I choked up that way. I just stuck with it.” Not surprisingly, he has no plans to go back to his old way. “I’m more comfortable now being choked up on the bat,” he said. “I started realizing it allows me to stay on top of pitches and not drop my backside and let my hands get lazy.” GROSSMAN HEADS OUT Grossman, out since Aug. 17 with a fracture at the tip of his left thumb, left for Triple-A Rochester on Saturday afternoon. The plan is for Grossman to serve as the Red Wings’ designated hitter on a brief two-game rehab assignment and then fly to Tampa Bay on Monday night to rejoin the Twins during their weeklong road trip. At this point, the switch-hitting Grossman is limited to left-handed swings against live pitching. His righty swing, where his bottom (left) hand absorbs more upon contact, remains a work in progress. He still hasn’t tried throwing with his left hand. That figures to come last, perhaps by mid-September. As for the Axe bat, Grossman said he’s been “mixing it in” to see if it helps lessen the vibration. He’s never used it in games before but might use it during a few of his Rochester at-bats.

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“That’s what I’m working on,” he said. “It just depends. It’s not bad.” CASTRO UPDATE Catcher Jason Castro took batting practice on the field for the first time since suffering a concussion on Aug. 23. The plan is for Castro to take more swings in the cage on Sunday morning before flying to Tampa Bay with the team in advance of early-week activation. Molitor said he was leaning against sending Castro out on a rehab assignment so he could catch under game conditions, but that could still change. Castro still must pass an imPACT test to be cleared for return under Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol. “We still have that option,” Molitor said, “to decide whether catching in a game would be peace of mind for him or for us. The longer it goes, the more you’re tempted to maybe do that. It depends on the timing and how he feels.” Santana, Twins continue Wild Card push vs. KC

Shane Jackson | MLB.com | September 3, 2017

Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy will square off against Twins righty Ervin Santana when this crucial series between American League Wild Card contenders concludes in Sunday's rubber game at Target Field. Minnesota holds a 1 1/2-game lead for the second Wild Card spot and is 4 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City following Saturday night's 17-0 win to even the series. Kennedy (4-10, 5.47 ERA) draws the start for the 15th meeting of the season between the AL Central rivals. Kennedy has faced the Twins three times in 2017, going 0-2 with a 7.30 ERA in 12 1/3 innings. He was lifted after 2 2/3 innings during his last start, in which Kennedy allowed seven runs on six hits to the Rays. It marked the third straight game he was pulled before completing five frames. Santana (14-7, 3.27) will look to build off his strong August, in which he posted a 2.95 ERA over six outings. Over that span, Santana lasted at least six frames and gave up three or fewer earned runs in all but one game. In his last start, Santana gave up three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 frames in a win over the White Sox. This season, Santana is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in two games against the Royals. Three things to know about this game • Santana has at least six strikeouts in each of his last seven games. Astros right-hander Justin Verlander has the longest active streak with nine consecutive outings. • Kennedy has faced the Twins 10 times in his career, going 4-3 with a 4.42 ERA. Santana is 6-10 with a 4.59 ERA in 23 career meetings against his former club. • Twins second baseman Brian Dozier owns a .238 career batting average with a pair of homers vs. Kennedy. Royals outfielder Melky Cabrera is hitting .341 with three doubles in 41 career at-bats against Santana. Twins rout KC to maintain 2nd WC advantage

Shane Jackson & Jeffrey Flanagan| MLB.com | September 2, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Right-hander Kyle Gibson was backed by a potent offensive display, as the Twins rolled to a 17-0 win over the Royals on Saturday night at Target Field. It was the largest shutout in Twins history and the Royals' worst shutout loss. Minnesota holds a 1 1/2-game lead over the Angels for the second American League Wild Card spot and is one game back of the Yankees for the first Wild Card, while Kansas City dropped to 4 1/2 games back. The 17 runs were the most allowed by the Royals this season. "It was a nice response after a game where we came up a little short last night," manager Paul Molitor said. "One of those games where [you] give pretty much everyone a [game] ball tonight, because it was a team effort across the board." The Twins gifted Gibson with 10 runs in the first two innings, including a four-run opening frame against Royals left-hander Onelki Garcia. In his first Major League start, Garcia recorded just one out and allowed four runs. Garcia faced six batters, allowing five to reach. Rookie Andres Machado, who followed Garcia, lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up four hits and six runs in his Major League debut.

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On Machado, Royals manager Ned Yost said, "It's tough. We were trying to stop the bleeding there. He's a strike thrower with good stuff, but he just couldn't get ahead. He was trying to get ahead, and up here, you got to get ahead in the count." Minnesota tacked on six runs in the second, sparked by Joe Mauer's RBI single against Machado. Mauer finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Brian Dozier launched a three-run homer in the fourth, while Eduardo Escobar clubbed a solo shot in the fifth and a three-run homer in the seventh. Escobar also notched a triple, becoming the first Twins hitter with two homers and a triple in a game since Jason Kubel on Sept. 23, 2008. Gibson, who posted a 3.90 ERA in five starts in August, started off September with another strong outing. He scattered five hits across six frames to go with no walks and five strikeouts. Gibson has recorded three straight quality starts for the first time since July 2015. Taylor Rogers, Buddy Boshers and Nik Turley combined to allow just two hits over the final three innings to complete the shutout. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Opening outburst: The Twins sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run first inning, which included three extra-base hits. Mauer's RBI double extended his season-high hitting streak to 11 games. Mauer last hit safely in 11 consecutive outings between July 17-30, 2015. Byron Buxton, who had been sidelined with a left hand contusion, knocked in Mauer with a triple. Buxton raced to third in 10.52 seconds, which is the fastest time to third tracked this season and the second-fastest since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015. Jorge Polanco (double) and Mitch Garver (single) then chased Garcia from the game. "That was a big bounceback from last night," Gibson said. "Sometimes that can really take the air out of a team the next day. It was a good response for a team that's in the hunt like us and a great way to start the game off." Six-pack: Minnesota followed up the first inning with a six-run second, featuring 11 batters. Following back-to-back walks to begin the frame, the Twins recorded three straight singles -- via Mauer, Buxton and Polanco -- to plate three runs. Escobar then smacked a two-run triple. The Royals recorded their first out of the frame on the eighth batter as Eddie Rosario capped the surge with a sacrifice fly. "It makes it tough when you fall behind," Yost said. "What was it, 10-0, before we even got an out in the second inning? It makes it tough." QUOTABLE "It's just frustration. That's all it is. We're in a tough spot right now. We're obviously pretty late in the season where we can't afford to give up that many games. They just jumped on us early today. There's really no turning back after that first inning." -- Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Mauer's RBI single in the second moved him further up the club's all-time leaderboards. Mauer is now tied with Justin Morneau for fifth on the Twins' all-time RBIs list (since 1961) with 860. The Royals gave up their most runs in a game since a 19-1 loss to the Indians on May 16, 2011. In that game, Vin Mazzaro gave up 14 runs in 2 1/3 innings, although he didn't start. GOODRUM MAKES DEBUT Niko Goodrum, who replaced Dozier at second base in the sixth, went 0-for-2 in his Major League debut. WHAT'S NEXT Royals: Right-hander Ian Kennedy (4-10, 5.47 ERA) will start the series finale against the Twins on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT. Kennedy, who has not won in six straight starts, gave up six hits and seven runs over 2 2/3 innings on Monday in a 12-0 loss to the Rays. Twins: Right-hander Ervin Santana (14-7, 3.27) will look to build off his strong August, in which he posted a 2.95 ERA over six outings, in Sunday's series finale at Target Field. Last time out, Santana allowed three runs in 6 2/3 frames in a win over the White Sox. He is 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA against the Royals this season.

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Buxton returns, records fastest triple in 2017

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | September 2, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins center fielder Byron Buxton's bruised left hand appears to be just fine, as he went 3-for-5 with an RBI triple in a 17-0 win over the Royals on Saturday night. And with his incredible speed, it helped him record the fastest time to third on a triple this season, according to Statcast™. Buxton, making his return after being held out of the starting lineup for two games with what was initially believed to be a hamate bone injury, laced an RBI triple to right-center field as part of a four-run first inning. Buxton reached third in 10.52 seconds, which is the fastest time to third tracked by Statcast™ this season and the second-fastest since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015. The only faster time was Billy Hamilton's 10.45 seconds on Aug. 13, 2006. Buxton's previous best was 10.56 seconds on Aug. 19. He reached 30.9 feet per second, which is much higher than the MLB average of 27 feet per second. "I just wanted to get something to the right side," Buxton said of his triple off Royals lefty Onelki Garcia. "I put a good swing on the ball and he left it over the plate a little bit, and it turned into a triple." Buxton said his hand never bothered him during the game, and wasn't something he thought about while playing. Twins manager Paul Molitor was relieved to see Buxton play all nine innings in the blowout victory. Buxton added an RBI single in the second before grounding out in both the third and fourth innings. He finished up with a single in the seventh. "I kept checking in with him throughout the game," Molitor said. "It was one of those nights where he's kind of learning a little bit about what he can do, and what causes discomfort and what doesn't. I know it's not 100 percent, like we talked about before. But he feels good, he's excited to be playing and he wants to be a part of it. I'm pretty sure he will be back in there tomorrow." Buxton is coming off an August that saw him hit .324/.354/.619 with eight homers, eight stolen bases and 22 RBIs, and the contending Twins are happy to see him healthy and ready to contribute down the stretch. "That was kind of a shot in the arm for us, finding out that it was a minor injury," right-hander Kyle Gibson said. "Having [Miguel Sano] go down and possibly [Buxton] going down would have been a tough week. Thankfully he's back and hopefully he can stay healthy. And thankfully, the last three days didn't take the heat out of his bat. If he keeps doing that, we are going to be all right." Byron Buxton may have helped Kyle Gibson take the next step

Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | September 2, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS – Byron Buxton announced his return to the lineup after a brief absence with a ringing stand-up triple because, well, how else would a guy as fast as Buxton announce his return? That hit was just a small part of the Twins’ 17-0 thrashing of the Kansas City Royals on Friday. Another contribution Buxton made was a lot less obvious to the naked eye, almost imperceptibly subtle. Last month, Buxton strained his groin in Houston, a series right after the all-star break. Shortly after that, not wanting to lose his timing at the plate, Buxton stood in the batter’s box during one of Kyle Gibson’s bullpen sessions. He noticed something with Gibson’s slider—something about the way he was releasing the most effective versions of the pitch, and other times, when Buxton said he could more easily diagnose what was coming and track it to the plate. Since Gibson’s start in Houston in July, he’s been really good for the Twins. In that time, Gibson’s pitched 41 innings with a 3.29 ERA, with 38 strikeouts and 10 walks. He’s also throwing strikes 63% of the time, including a swing-and-miss rate better than 12%, which is well above his career mark of 9.4% swinging strikes. That good run continued with 6 shutout innings Friday against the Royals. Before this recent stretch he had a 6.29 ERA, and his tendency to nibble and then get hit hard got him optioned to the minor leagues earlier in the year. But one thing about Gibson is that despite those numbers, he has reasonably good stuff. With his sinker, slider and changeup, he looks like a guy that shouldn’t have an ERA that starts with 6. In his past 7 starts, that ERA starts with a 3, and Gibson might be onto something. The past handful of starts, Gibson said he’s been working to keep his body “closed,” instead of opening up his front (left) shoulder too early during his delivery. He’s trusted his stuff, he’s attacked the strike zone, and he’s been rewarded with more swinging strikes than he’s had on average in the past.

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“Allowing my hand to work out front is another thing, mechanically, that’s made a big difference the last two or three starts,” Gibson said Friday. “Trying to have everything look more like a fastball for as long as possible. Sometimes when I fall off and fly open, they can see the spin.” Gibson has developed a reputation as a guy who likes to scour the video. But it’s one thing to hunt for idiosyncrasies in your own delivery, and quite another to hear it from a hitter watching you from the batter’s box. Buxton clued Gibson in on the hitter’s perspective about six weeks ago. “[Buxton] said there’s just a big difference, whenever I stay closed and stay through it, the slider looks like a fastball a little bit longer,” Gibson said. Sorting through Gibson’s pitching data on Brooks Baseball, it’s hard to tell if the renewed emphasis on his mechanics has led to a significant difference elsewhere. One thing that stands out is that he’s throwing a lot more 4-seam fastballs and comparatively fewer sinkers. (In July he used his 4-seamer about 13% of the time, according to Brooks Baseball, and his sinker about 43% of the time. In August, those flipped, and he upped his 4-seamer usage to 29%, and cut back his sinker to 23%.) I don’t know if his pitch distribution is a result of Buxton’s insight, and I don’t even know if the two are related. Maybe they’re playing together and leading to Gibson’s success. I’d also need to dig deeper to discern if his release point is different, if he’s getting more movement on his pitches, or if hitters are simply having a harder time differentiating between his pitches now. It does look like he may have changed his release point on his curveball a bit, but anecdotally it seems more like it’s been the fastball, slider and changeup that are driving Gibson’s recent run of success. Whatever the change has brought, Gibson’s been successful lately. He’s currently part of an improbably strong starting staff, and combined with a hard-charging offense, they’ve got the Twins in the race for the postseason. Gibson deserves credit for that. And maybe Buxton deserves even more credit than we initially thought. Twins erupt for 17 runs in shutout win over Royals

Associated Press | September 3, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — From top to bottom of the order and oldest to youngest in the lineup, the Minnesota Twins have sure been hitting like a team on track for the playoffs. Joe Mauer went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and Eduardo Escobar hit two home runs while driving in six runs, as the Twins erupted for a 17-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night to keep their lead for the second AL wild card spot at 1 1/2 games. Brian Dozier added a three-run homer and Byron Buxton went 3 for 5 with three runs, making starter Kyle Gibson (9-10) as comfortable as possible over six scoreless innings to help the Twins improve to 21-10 since Aug. 2. “Whether it’s everybody feeding off one another or just feeding off yourself if you’re seeing the ball really well, I don’t really know, but the lineup’s flowing really well right now,” said Dozier, whose 55 home runs since the All-Star game in 2016 are the third most in the majors behind Khris Davis (59) and Giancarlo Stanton (57). The Royals fell to 11-20 since July 31 and dropped to 4 1/2 games behind the Twins. They’ve been shut out 15 times this season, five in the last nine games. “Ten to nothing before we even got an out in the second inning,” manager Ned Yost said, “so yeah, it makes it tough.” Onelki Garcia (0-1), who went four years between appearances in the majors until joining the Royals last weekend, had a forgettable first start at age 28. He gave up a walk to Dozier, a double off the wall to Mauer, a standup triple to Buxton and a double to Jorge Polanco before recording his first and only out. Mitch Garver’s first major league RBI ended Garcia’s night in the four-run first inning. The Twins tacked on six more runs in the second. “We’re in a tough spot right now,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “We’re obviously pretty late in the season where we can’t afford to give up any games. They just jumped on us early today, and there’s really no turning back after that first inning.” Dozier, Mauer, Buxton, Polanco and Escobar, the first five batters, combined for 13 hits in 21 at-bats with 13 runs and 15 RBIs. The Twins are

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averaging almost 6 runs per game since Aug. 2, with a plus-76 scoring margin over those 31 games. “I can’t really say that I saw this kind of trend coming, but we all know the growth of young players and when they’re going to spurt, you just look forward to it when a bunch of `em do it together,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. Especially when the guy with the gray hair is at the heart of the surge. Mauer, who’s batting .448 in 87 at-bats over 22 games since Aug. 10, moved above the .300 mark for the first time since May 11, 2016. The three-time AL batting champion has not finished above .300 since he hit .324 in 2013, when his season was cut short by a concussion. “I guess that’s a nice little thing for me personally,” Mauer said, “but we’re doing a lot of other good things that we should be talking about.” Molitor and Yost began emptying their benches by mid-game to rest regulars, and Molitor offered Mauer the opportunity to stay in the game for a fifth hit. He pondered the possibility then declined so he could play first base again on Sunday afternoon. “Joe’s been playing fantastic baseball,” Molitor said. “It’s really fun to watch him be a leader out there.” MORE MAUER Mauer tied old friend Justin Morneau for fifth place on the team’s all-time list with 860 RBIs. He has a hit in 11 straight games. AND ANOTHER ONE Niko Goodrum replaced the second baseman Dozier in the sixth inning, becoming the 13th player to make his major league debut for the Twins this season. Goodrum, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2010, also became the 51st player used by the Twins in 2017. TRAINER’S ROOM Royals: RHP Kelvin Herrera, who was pulled from his appearance as the closer on Friday with forearm tightness, was diagnosed with a mild strain and will be held out for at least a few days. Twins: C Jason Castro, who has missed the last nine games because of a concussion, likely won’t need a rehab stint. He could be back in the lineup next week. UP NEXT Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (4-10, 5.47 ERA) pitches on Sunday. He’s coming off a season-worst start, a 12-0 loss to Tampa Bay with 2 2/3 innings finished. Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (14-7, 3.27 ERA) takes the mound in the series finale. The Twins won five of his six turns in August, when he went 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.