Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Sunday, August 14, 2016

 How did soccer-loving Max Kepler from Germany end up a Twin? Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1  Tyler Duffey pitches seven strong innings and Twins use long ball to defeat Royals. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3  Robbie Grossman's sharp eye at plate a two-edged sword for Twins outfielder. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 4  Twins bash their way to 5-3 win over Royals. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5  Dozier, Twins slug past Royals to snap slide. MLB.com (Flanagan and Park) p. 6  Duffey finds groove when Twins need it most. MLB.com (Park) p. 7  O'Rourke gets callup as Twins eye fresh arm. MLB.com (Park) p. 8  Santiago battles KC seeking first win as Twin. MLB.com (Park) p. 9  Twins beat Royals 5-3 behind homers, strong outing from Duffey. Associated Press p. 9  Preview: Twins vs. Royals. Sports Xchange p. 10

How did soccer-loving Max Kepler from Germany end up a Twin?

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | August 14, 2016

There are a million different paths to the major leagues, it’s true, but there are an equal number of ways that the road can veer in a different direction, too. Max Kepler’s route to right field in Target Field, to sudden fame and surprising accomplishment at an early age, to what looks like a long future in a Twins uniform, is already among the most unique, since it involves ballet dancers and a broken bike, the Bavarian Alps and a European capital, parental sacrifice and imaginative scouts.

But that superhighway to success might easily have detoured into a German dead end a decade ago, had a 14-year-old Kepler not yawned his way through ballgames, acted up around coaches, and considered giving up the game.

“His coach came to me one day and said: ‘We cannot do anything else for him. He’s becoming belligerent on the field. He’s misbehaving,’ ” said Kathy Kepler, the rookie outfielder’s mother and chief promoter. “ ‘He’s not going after the baseball like we know he can. He’s not running [hard]. He’s not challenged by it.’ ”

Kepler loved challenge, enjoyed playing competitive golf, a variety of team sports, and even so excelled at tennis that he was offered a scholarship by Steffi Graf’s school. He learned to swim before he could speak; once he could, he became fluent in German, English, even Polish, the language of his father, Marek Rozycki.

Kepler was such an athletic prodigy, it seemed, even in a game he had not taken up until he enrolled at the American-supported John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, that the level of play on his various club teams was no longer interesting. “I got bored,” Kepler admits. “I loved the game, played it every day. But I loved soccer, too, and the players were better. I’m a competitive person.”

So competitive, in fact, that Kepler convinced his parents to take him to a baseball camp in the Czech Republic, where a scout spotted him and encouraged the family to enroll Max in a baseball academy in Regensburg, deep in the woods of Bavaria about 50 miles from Munich. And once there, it didn’t take long for Kepler, still barely a teenager, whose experience was mostly limited to playing on well-worn soccer fields or worse, to be noticed.

“My husband was with Max, and wrote us to say there’s ‘somebody from LMB or something like that’ who had taken an interest in him,” Kathy Kepler said. “He didn’t know what MLB was. It turned out to be a scout from the . They were the first.”

But hardly the last. European camps aren’t a high priority for scouts, given how few young athletes play a game that’s still largely unknown on the continent. Still, those who attend from the United States are trained to spot raw tools, evaluate attitude and work ethic and project forward by several years.

“It’s really a remarkable expertise,” Twins manager Paul Molitor says of the scouts he has encountered during his baseball life. “To pick out a kid among hundreds of players and try to picture how their skills will develop over a long period of time and through the most transformative years of a young man’s life — [age] 16 to 19 is a big jump, in terms of physical maturity — takes an imagination that not many [people] possess. It’s hard to do.”

Andy Johnson, who scouted Europe for the Twins, could imagine the lanky 6-footer using his fluid, balanced swing, reminiscent of a young David Justice, to develop into a big leaguer. Kepler’s parents had hopes that his play might earn him a scholarship to the University of Texas, near where his mother had grown up, or perhaps Georgia State, which was coached by German national team coach Greg Frady.

Those plans changed when, after a flurry of courtships with several other teams, Johnson outbid the competition by offering the 16-year-old a bonus of $775,000 to sign with the Twins.

“I wanted to go abroad, and baseball was that gateway. I wanted to play internationally,” Kepler said. “Nobody said the major leagues were a guarantee, but I wanted to take a risk, give myself a chance.”

His parents could hardly say no. After all, their entire history, the reason they were together in the first place, had been one of taking risks.

Family of performers

Kathy Kepler saw the world at an even younger age than her son. The daughter of a U.S. Army intelligence officer, she moved around the country and the world as her father received different postings, finally setting in Texas as a teenager. She coped with the constant travel by making ballet her passion, and by the time she was 14, she was clearly headed toward a professional career.

She took part in a workshop that was attended by Robert Joffrey, founder of the famed Joffrey Ballet company, and so captivated the impresario, she was offered a spot at the company’s school in New York. “My mother said no, I was too young,” Kathy Kepler said. “I had to wait a year, but when I was 15, they let me go.”

After two years of living in a dormitory in New York, she was hired by the Berlin Ballet, and headed for Europe, thrilled that her own dreams were coming true. One day in 1985, about a year into her residence in West Berlin, a city divided during that Cold War era, she was riding her bicycle home to her apartment when it broke down.

A colleague in the theater saw her and stopped. “He said, ‘Let me help you fix your bike.’ He did, and I said, “Let me fix you dinner,’ ” Kathy Kepler recalled. That colleague was Marek Rozycki, who had an intriguing story of his own. Rozycki grew up in a tiny Polish village but made a name for himself with his ballet grace. Eager to escape his communist homeland, he defected during a tour of Italy. He finally found asylum in West Germany, and was eventually hired in Berlin.

“I made him dinner, and that was the start of our courtship,” Kathy Kepler said. “We were married in 1990,” and soon had two children: Max, born in 1993, and Emma, three years later. They kept their own names, because by then they were both stars of the Berlin company.

“We did not want people to know we were married. My husband had a lot of fans — women would wait with roses after performances, or bottles of wine,” Kepler said. “He’d give them to me, we’d laugh, and then we’d go home.”

Breakout season

Now it’s Max who figures to have plenty of fans. After two brief, uneventful stints with the Twins, Kepler was called up in early June when Miguel Sano, then the right fielder, was sidelined by a hamstring injury. Kepler soon moved into Sano’s position — and appears intent upon making it permanent.

“He understands what he needs to do to hit the ball hard,” Molitor said, “and it’s translated into some power. He’s certainly big enough to do that, and when you get a little success, it kind of feeds off itself.”

But the Twins could hardly have expected this. Kepler, who had never hit more than 10 homers in a minor league season, collected hits in 18 of 2

25 games in June. He hit about a a week, then suddenly went on a roll in July like never before, clubbing eight home runs in the month. He already has piled up 52 RBI, second most on the team. And on Aug. 1 in Cleveland he hit three home runs in a game, only the sixth Twin ever to do so.

“It’s fun to watch,” Molitor said. “He does a really nice job, as far as his swing being a downward plane — that’s why he gets that backspin. Those balls are basically line drives that went really far.”

It’s almost hard to believe it’s the same kid that Molitor first saw as a 17-year-old, on one of his first days as a professional.

“I got a look at him when we signed him, and he was a frail-looking, tall-looking, not overly athletic-looking guy,” Molitor said. “He still had to grow into” his frame, now 6-4 and 205 pounds. “One spring maybe three years ago, all of a sudden, you looked at Max in the batting cage and he looked like a different guy. The sound [of his bat] started to change, the carry of the ball started to change.”

It took a while, though, not that it was a surprise. “Max is always very methodical. When he was a child, I would bring him to the playground, and there would be 15 toddlers sitting around with shovels and buckets,” Kathy Kepler said. “He would watch them build their sand things, and then he would build an empire. He’d have it all planned out.”

Max Kepler-Rozycki

His baseball career has been like that, too. Kepler came to the U.S. in 2009 with a little more than a year remaining of high school, so his mother moved to Fort Myers, Fla., with him while his father stayed in Berlin with Emma. “He was so cute. He said, ‘Oh, Mom, just give me the key to the apartment, and I’ll be fine,’ ” Kathy said. “He had been to boarding school, but I knew I should be there to make sure he went to school.” Her son had always been an A student, so she initially enrolled him in a private school for high achievers, before discovering that was a bad idea.

“He’s practicing and playing games every day. He didn’t have time to write 3,000-word research papers,” she said. She transferred him to South Fort Myers High, across the street from the Twins’ camp, and began showing up every day to watch. Kepler spent her time renovating their condo and took a part-time job with the Census Bureau, but “I was on the field every day. I was the only female on the field,” she said. “The scouts looked at me really strange, but they warmed up as they got used to it.”

One of the first decisions to make: his name. He was Kepler-Rozycki as a child, but “teams told us it wouldn’t fit on the back of a jersey,” Kathy Kepler said. “We decided upon Kepler, though if he had signed with the Cubs, with all the Polish people in Chicago, he may have used Rozycki.”

Max and eventually Emma got used to the United States, too; Max’s sister, once offered several golf scholarships, completed a degree — “with straight A’s,” her mother interjects — at Tallahassee Community College. “Max and I always thought when we were growing up that we would end up living in the U.S. because we always liked the whole American dream, like it was this faraway fairy tale,” Emma Kepler-Rozycki said. “He was playing a lot of soccer when he was younger, and he had to make a decision about soccer or baseball and he went baseball. I think it was because it was a step closer to the U.S.”

Kepler’s parents still live in Berlin, retired from the ballet company but on to other professions. Kathy is a physical therapist, while Marek teaches ballet to a new generation. Emma is considering moving back to Germany until she decides what’s next, but the whole family keeps up with Max on a daily basis, and plans vacations so they can follow the Twins. The family has been in Minneapolis all week, with Marek watching his son play in the majors for the first time.

Their presence has made Max Kepler smile a lot, something he doesn’t always do during a game. “He has been tagged as serious, but he’s very mindful that he’s a rookie, that he’s new,” his mother said. “It’s like in the ballet, you don’t go into the studio and go right in front of the ballerina and say, ‘I’m here.’ You go in the back where you belong, and start at the bottom and work your way up to that status. He’s very respectful of that.”

And he’s not as unemotional as it sometimes seems, Molitor said. “He shows a lot of emotion and frustration down in the tunnels, more than you would imagine,” his manager said. “He expects a lot out of himself. He’s very smart and determined … but the fact that he contains the outward joy when he’s doing well is probably a good thing. … He’s got a long career ahead of him.”

Tyler Duffey pitches seven strong innings and Twins use long ball to defeat Royals.

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | August 14, 2016

Brian Dozier returned to the Twins clubhouse after their 5-3 victory over the Royals on Saturday to find his Sunday jersey had been altered. 3

Teammate Trevor Plouffe had covered the nameplate with the word “Mister,” and Dozier’s number had been changed from 2 to “100.”

“Looks nice, doesn’t it?” Dozier said with a laugh at the tribute to his 100th career home run, part of a three-homer effort by the Twins that helped them snap their four-game losing streak at Target Field and beat Kansas City for just the second time in eight games this season.

The makeshift uniform wasn’t the only recognition Dozier received for his sixth blast of August, which is tied for the major league lead. The noisy announced crowd of 30,147 demanded a curtain call, and Dozier obliged, waving his helmet from the top step of the dugout. “That’s my first one. I could hear the crowd cheering,” said Dozier, the 16th Twin to reach triple digits in homers for his career and first since Joe Mauer passed 100 in 2013. “It was a pretty cool feeling.”

The whole game was for the Twins, who also got homers from Robbie Grossman and Eddie Rosario — the latter preceding Dozier’s blast, the Twins’ 11th instance of back-to-back home runs this year — and a strong seven innings from Tyler Duffey, a big contribution after the previous three starters combined for just 10 innings.

“It was good to see Duff come out and pick us up as a team and rotation. He was good throughout,” manager Paul Molitor said. “It starts with that fastball. He’s gaining confidence in that pitch, in his command.”

Duffey won his third start in a row, holding the Royals to just two runs and six hits over seven innings, his longest start since June. Duffey surrendered a solo home run to Cheslor Cuthbert in the third inning, and a pair of doubles to Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar in the seventh, but mostly avoided any serious trouble in evening his record at 8-8 on the season.

The Twins lead the major leagues in home runs in August with 24, and Dozier’s six are tied for the most. “I’m not sure what it feels like to be in the groove that he’s in,” Molitor said. “That was a no-doubter tonight.”

Ryan Pressly pitched around his eighth-inning error by turning an inning-ending double play, and Brandon Kintzler earned his 11th save, albeit with a glitch by the Twins defense, in the ninth. Alex Gordon lined a two-out single, moved up to second and scored an unearned run when third baseman Jorge Polanco’s on-the-run throw sailed past Mauer. But Kintzler responded by striking out Raul Mondesi with the crowd on its feet.

Another lefty promoted

For the third day in a row, a Rochester lefthander was granted another chance with the Twins.

On Saturday, it was Ryan O’Rourke, who posted a 1.93 ERA in the bullpen with the Class AAA Red Wings, getting the call. He follows Andrew Albers, who was added Thursday, and Pat Dean, summoned on Friday. Albers was designated for assignment to make room for O’Rourke, who has a career 5.83 ERA in two stints with the Twins.

Robbie Grossman's sharp eye at plate a two-edged sword for Twins outfielder

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | August 14, 2016

Thanks to the random vagaries of baseball, Robbie Grossman hadn’t batted with the bases loaded in more than a month when his turn came up in the second inning Saturday, a Twin standing on every base. Grossman fouled off a fastball from Royals righthander Dillon Gee, took a ball, then missed a curve, looking fooled. When Gee tried the curve again, except a few inches farther outside, Grossman let it go by.

Whoops. Kerwin Danley judged it had caught the corner of the plate, and the umpire’s right arm went up. Strike three. Inning over. Opportunity missed.

“Sometimes what makes him good hurts him,” manager Paul Molitor said of his fourth-year outfielder, who later hit a go-ahead solo home run in a 5-3 victory. “You like to see him put balls in play in those situations, but you also trust his eye, because that works out well.”

It often does, yes. On-base percentage is Grossman’s specialty, a talent he displayed in the minor leagues that he’s been able to bring with him to the Twins this season. With 44 walks in only 67 games, Grossman’s .389 on-base percentage not only leads the Twins, but it would rank fifth in the American League with a few dozen more plate appearances. Not bad for a guy hitting .270.

“The trend [spelled out in the book] ‘Moneyball,’ he’s one of the guys who fits that mode” of helping his team with lesser-appreciated talents, Molitor said. “Even with the lower batting average, his on-base percentage has remained rather lofty. He’s an attractive alternative when we’re doing things, changing the lineup a little bit or just changing up who gets to play.” 4

Grossman’s walk rate of 16.1 percent, in fact, ranks behind only Jim Thome’s 17.7 in 2011 as the highest by a Twin in the past quarter-century. “The idea is to get on base as many times as you can, that’s your one goal at the plate,” he said. “The only thing I pay attention to is on-base and how many runs I score. That’s really all that matters.”

It’s a batting style Grossman says was taught to him when he was first coming up in the minor league system of the Pirates, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2008. He never goes up to the plate looking to walk — but he’s determined to swing only at strikes, a big contrast to many hitters in this era.

“That was a really big emphasis for them — swinging at good pitches,” said Grossman, who took it to heart so well, he drew 104 walks in 134 games at Class A Bradenton in 2011. “I might have taken it further than most people do, but I have a pretty good idea what the strike zone is now. But sometimes it hurts me, and I have to be really careful. I have to be aware that I need to be more aggressive.”

That’s because he’s a statistical outlier in another category, too: called third strikes. Grossman has watched strike three go by 31 times this season, which ranks him 15th in the AL. Since the day he first became a Twin, May 20, only Baltimore’s Chris Davis has looked at more third strikes.

“I’ve always had a high walk rate, but it’s kind of a gift and a curse,” Grossman asid. “I’ve taken some pitches lately that have been close and haven’t gone my way. That’s the part of my game I need to get better at. There’s such a fine line.”

There is, and which side that pitch falls on depends upon the whims of an umpire. Grossman doesn’t blame umps for his strikeouts. “These guys aren’t perfect. They’re just trying to do the best job they can,” he said. “But sometimes on the 50-50 pitches, you take them one week, it’s a strike, and the next week it’s a ball.”

One adjustment he would like to make: Perhaps swing at more borderline pitches. Just to see what would happen.

“I have to tell myself, just because they’re not strikes doesn’t mean you can’t get hits off them. You can. Just look at Jose Altuve — he’s got a magic wand,” he said of his former Astros teammate. “And that’s something you have to keep reminding yourself — yes, you want a good pitch, but the borderline pitch, you can still hit it.”

Twins bash their way to 5-3 win over Royals

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | August 13, 2016

Maybe Paul Molitor could get used to playing long ball after all.

Sure, the Twins manager would prefer a club that could slash and dash a little more frequently rather than just bash and mash. However, three more home runs, including the 100th of Brian Dozier’s career, lifted the Twins to a 5-3 win over the on Saturday night at Target Field.

“The home runs are there and they’re working,” Molitor said. “They’ve definitely contributed to some of the wins we’ve been able to put on the board.”

This marked the 21st time the Twins had hit three or more homers in a game this season. They have gone 17-4 in those games.

Five of those outbursts have come in their past 14 games (27 total homers) since July 31. The lone loss came last week against the Houston Astros.

“We’ll take the homers,” Dozier said.

Moments after Eddie Rosario’s two-run homer in the sixth, Dozier blasted a Dillon Gee cutter 429 feet for his majors-high 17th homer since June 25. With 25 homers, Dozier is three shy of his career high, set last season.

He also has homered in his past four starts against the Royals, dating to April 10 at Kauffman Stadium.

With the crowd still roaring, Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar pushed Dozier up the dugout steps for his first career curtain call.

5

“I knew I had to get out there,” Dozier said before heading back out to joining Kyle Gibson and Escobar in addressing the postgame crowd on Faith Night. “Pretty cool. I don’t know how many people knew. I didn’t even know I was that close (to 100 homers) until a couple days ago.”

Rosario, meanwhile, has three career four-strikeout games. He has now followed up twice with a homer in his next game.

“We were talking about that,” Dozier said. “I wouldn’t say let’s do that every time but he responds well. That’s a good thing from him that he’s learning. He wanted to stay inside the ball more, stay behind the ball and he did that. That was kind of the dagger.”

The back-to-back homers marked the 11th time that has happened for the Twins this season. That ties the 1986 club for second-most in a Twins season; the 1964 Twins hit consecutive homers 14 times, which is still the Twins’ franchise record.

Randomly, they won the American League pennant in the season that followed those other two back-to-back outbursts.

With 143 homers, the Twins are tied with the 7-3 win Chicago Cubs for 13th most in the majors.

Robbie Grossman had three hits and drove in the other two runs for the Twins, including his eighth homer, a leadoff blast on a Gee (4-6) changeup in the fifth. The left fielder also scored Dozier with a bad-hop single off Eric Hosmer’s glove in the first.

That was the Twins’ only hit with runners in scoring position as they fell to 2 for 12 in clutch spots for the series. The Royals went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, including a costly foul popup on Raul Mondesi’s attempted sacrifice with two on and nobody out in the fifth.

“That was huge,” said Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey, who evened his record at 8-8 with seven solid innings that included his 19th homer allowed (Cheslor Cuthbert’s solo homer in the third).

Duffey has quality starts in consecutive outings for the first time since April 30-May 15, when he put together three straight. He also benefited from some sterling defense, especially by the left side of his infield: Jorge Polanco at third and Escobar at shortstop.

Brandon Kintzler handled the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

This was just the second win for the Twins in 11 tries against the third-place Royals, dating to last September. At Target Field they are 2-9 against the Royals since the middle of April 2015.

“Their record is not the same but the dynamic of their team hasn’t changed,” Molitor said. “A lot of professional at-bats and pressure on defense. They run the bases. They make plays. Gee did fairly well early but we eventually got a chance to hit some balls and square them up and get them over the fence.”

The Twins have been doing that a lot lately.

Dozier, Twins slug past Royals to snap slide

Jeffrey Flanagan and Do-Hyoung Park | MLB.com | August 13, 2016

Nothing will slow down Brian Dozier these days.

Dozier doubled and homered, and Eddie Rosario blasted a two-run homer as the Twins powered past the Royals, 5-3, on Saturday night at Target Field. The win snapped Minnesota's four-game losing streak.

"Dozier has just been incredible for quite a while," said Twins manager Paul Molitor. "I don't really look at where he stacks up around the league in terms of the past 40, 45, 50 games, but it's been fun to watch. He got us going in the first and hit the big home run for us, too. It was a good night."

Dozier now has 17 home runs since June 25, the most in baseball over that span. His homer in the sixth was his career 100th.

Tyler Duffey cruised through the Royals lineup, allowing six hits and two runs through seven innings. He walked one and struck out six.

"My last two starts, I just tried to get ahead and that opens the door for everything else," Duffey said. "I don't know how many guys I got behind, but I feel like I was ahead for most of the night. When that happens, things tend to work out for you." 6

Right-hander Dillon Gee started for Kansas City and gave up 11 hits and five runs through 5 1/3 innings. Gee walked one and struck out six. "He was one hitter away from having a really, really good outing," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Gee. "Rosario was gonna be his last hitter. We were going to bring [Peter] Moylan in to face Dozier, and have [Brian] Flynn for the switch-hitter and [Joe] Mauer.

"He ends up elevating a pitch to Rosario on the home run. And then I don't want to burn Moylan to face Dozier and [Gee] elevates another pitch."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Dozier hits the century mark: The Twins' second baseman put an exclamation mark on his prolonged power surge when he smashed a fastball a Statcast-projected 426 feet into Target Field's second deck for his 25th of the year. The homer followed Rosario's two-run shot to chase Gee and give the Twins a 5-1 lead. Dozier became the 16th player in Twins history and the eighth active second baseman to hit the 100-homer plateau.

"If you'd asked me this around four and a half years ago, I don't know how soon I'd have gotten to that, if ever," Dozier said. "So it's pretty cool." Dozier earned the first curtain call of his five-year career from an energetic crowd of more than 30,000 fans at Target Field. After the game, his teammates taped over his locker and jersey in the Twins' clubhouse with labels proclaiming him as "Mister 100."

Cuthbert goes yard: Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, a sleeper candidate for American League Rookie of the Year honors, belted his 10th homer of the season, a solo shot off Duffey in the third inning that soared into the bullpen in left-center field. The homer pulled the Royals into a 1-1 tie at the time.

Duffey dominates: The depleted Minnesota bullpen got a much-needed rest thanks to Duffey, who became the first Twins starter to complete seven innings since July 29. He allowed two runs on six hits and struck out six. Duffey has now given the Twins two straight quality starts after holding Houston to one run on Monday.

"It's one of those things where I know I have to keep working to get better," Duffey said. "That's all I've done every time I have a bullpen now. I've made a point to get out there and work on something and get better, because I had a pretty rough stretch there and I was tired of that."

The bunt that wasn't: The Royals had a great chance to do some damage in the fifth inning. Alex Gordon led off with a walk and Alcides Escobar hit a single. That brought up Raul Mondesi, one of the best bunters on the team. But Mondesi popped out to catcher Kurt Suzuki. Paulo Orlando followed with a hard grounder up the middle that could have been a go-ahead, two-run single.

"He's an excellent bunter. Just shows there is nothing in this game is a sure thing, no matter how good you are at it,' Yost said. "It's tough to do it."

Added Mondesi, "I've got to do my [job]. It was a bad bunt. I didn't like it. Nobody liked it. Tomorrow's a new day."

QUOTABLE "It tastes a lot better when you're on the winning side for sure. I'd definitely trade those 100 homers for 100 more wins over the last four years or so." – Dozier

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The homers by Rosario and Dozier in the sixth marked the 11th time this season the Twins have gone back-to-back, which tied the 1986 Twins for the second-most in team history. The 1964 Twins hit consecutive homers 14 times for the team record.

WHAT'S NEXT Royals: Right-hander Edinson Volquez (8-10, 5.03 ERA) will take the mound for the Royals to close out the series on Sunday. Volquez gave up 10 hits and four runs over six innings in his last start Tuesday against the White Sox, a no-decision. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. CT.

Twins: Still winless as a Twin, left-hander Hector Santiago (10-6, 4.47 ERA) will make his third start in a Minnesota uniform after joining the team in the trade that sent Ricky Nolasco to the Angels. He allowed five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Astros on Tuesday.

Duffey finds groove when Twins need it most

Do-Hyoung Park | MLB.com | August 13, 2016

Given how much the Twins have had to use their bullpen in the last three games, Minnesota badly needed a starter to give its relief corps a much-needed break. 7

In Saturday night's 5-3 win over the Royals, right-hander Tyler Duffey rose to the occasion, yielding only two runs in seven strong innings to earn his third straight win. He was the first Twins starter to last seven innings since July 29.

"It's just one of those things where the more that the short outings [from the starters] get compounded, the more that it taxes your team collectively," said Twins manager Paul Molitor. "You need a little relief. We have a couple of off-days coming up in the next couple of days, which is helpful. Long starts are right up there with off-days."

Because the Twins spotted Duffey an early lead with a first-inning RBI single from Robbie Grossman, the big right-hander was able to be more aggressive in the zone with Kansas City's lineup. He wasn't trying to strike out Kansas City's contact-oriented hitters, but rather locate his fastball and mix in his curveballs effectively to induce weak contact all evening.

"It makes it really easy to just go out there and try to get strike one," Duffey said. "For me, that's so big. My last two starts, I just tried to get ahead and that opens the door for everything else. I don't know how many guys I got behind, but I feel like I was ahead for most of the night. When that happens, things tend to work out for you."

Duffey's lone hiccup early in the game was a third-inning solo homer by Cheslor Cuthbert. He ran into trouble in the fifth and seventh innings but was effective in damage control and got some help from his defense.

In the fifth, he allowed the first two Kansas City hitters to reach but induced a bunt popup and escaped on a double play started on a bit of nice glove work from Eduardo Escobar. He allowed a two-out RBI double to Alcides Escobar in the seventh before Jorge Polanco charged a weak grounder and made a strong throw to kill the threat.

"I got some flyouts early and we were just trying to work inside on a lot of guys," Duffey said. "I settled in and had a lot of great defense and I can't ask for that much else."

After posting a 7.77 ERA in five July starts, Duffey has been regaining his confidence while working on specific mechanical tweaks to improve his consistency, like maintaining a steady release point and staying on top of his breaking balls.

"It's one of those things where I know I have to keep working to get better," Duffey said. "That's all I've done every time I have a bullpen [session] now. I've made a point to get out there and work on something and get better, because I had a pretty rough stretch there and I was tired of that."

O'Rourke gets callup as Twins eye fresh arm

Do-Hyoung Park | MLB.com | August 13, 2016

The Twins designated left-hander Andrew Albers for assignment after Friday's 7-3 loss to the Royals and selected the contract of left-handed reliever Ryan O'Rourke from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday in a corresponding roster move.

Albers, 30, helped save Minnesota's bullpen in the second game of Thursday's split doubleheader against the Astros, as he tossed six innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on 11 hits and a walk. It was his first Major League appearance since May 1, 2015, while with the Blue Jays. It was also his first outing with the Twins since Sept. 26, 2013.

According to manager Paul Molitor, the Twins were hoping to wait until Tuesday to make another roster move, but the bullpen needed a fresh arm after Albers' 108-pitch marathon on Thursday and left-hander Pat Dean threw three innings of relief on Friday.

"They've picked us up in terms of instances where we needed to absorb some innings and try to get through a ballgame," Molitor said. "Using both those guys up put us in a situation where another body was needed. [O'Rourke is] fresh and I know I can get a couple innings out of him."

O'Rourke is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA, 29 strikeouts and six walks in 33 relief appearances with Triple-A Rochester this season. He has registered a 5.83 ERA in 36 outings for the Twins across two seasons, including eight relief appearances earlier this season.

Although O'Rourke had previously spent time as a lefty specialist, he had a chance to stretch out his arm for longer outings with Rochester. He hasn't pitched since Aug. 9, which means he will immediately be available out of the bullpen for the Twins.

Molitor believes that O'Rourke's chance to get extended looks against both left- and right-handed hitters in Triple-A has helped with his 8 confidence when facing righties. In his Major League career, right-handed hitters are slashing .259/.380/.431 off of O'Rourke, versus .149/.286/.234 by left-handed batters.

Santiago battles KC seeking first win as Twin

Do-Hyoung Park | MLB.com | August 13, 2016

Minnesota left-hander Hector Santiago takes the mound Sunday still seeking his first win as a Twin after losing both his starts since he joined the team in the trade that sent Ricky Nolasco to the Angels.

Santiago will face off with the Royals' Edinson Volquez, who is looking to get back on track after allowing four runs or more in three straight outings for the first time since 2014.

Santiago had won all six of his July starts with Los Angeles, but has allowed eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings over his two starts with the Twins. Volquez yielded four runs on 10 hits in six innings against the White Sox on Tuesday and didn't factor into the decision.

The Twins could really use a rest; they've played 30 games in 31 days since the All-Star break and have had to place three relievers on the disabled list in the last week. A needed off-day is waiting after Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Royals at Target Field.

Things to know about this game

Santiago has fared well against the Royals in his career, with a 2-1 record and a 1.89 ERA in seven career starts. He defeated the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on July 25 in his penultimate start for the Angels, allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Volquez has dropped five straight road starts and is 2-7 with a 6.51 ERA in 10 outings away from Kauffman Stadium. His last road win was against the Twins on May 24 at Target Field.

After Brian Dozier hit his 100th career homer on Saturday night, Joe Mauer is the next Twin approaching a milestone, as he is three RBIs away from 800 in his career.

Twins beat Royals 5-3 behind homers, strong outing from Duffey

Associated Press | August 13, 2016

Brian Dozier's milestone home run led to his first career curtain call and a satisfying win for the Minnesota Twins.

Dozier hit his 25th homer of the season and the 100th of his career, leading Tyler Duffey and the Twins over the Kansas City Royals 5-3 Saturday night and ending a four-game losing streak.

After slumping badly to start the season, Dozier has been one of the top hitters in the majors for almost two months. He's hit 17 homers since June 25, most in the majors over that span, and he's even baffled a Hall of Fame hitter with his surge.

"I'm not sure what it feels like to be in the groove that he's in," said Twins manager Paul Molitor, who got 3,319 hits in big league career.

"I know back there in May he talked about having a couple days where he worked on some things, some things started to click, and it's been an extended period now where he's been one of the better offensive players in the league," he said.

Dozier doubled to lead off the first inning and scored on the first of Robbie Grossman's three hits. In the sixth inning he followed Eddie Rosario's two-run shot with a towering drive deep into the second deck in left.

Teammate Eduardo Escobar pushed Dozier out of the dugout to acknowledge the crowd after he circled the bases.

Just don't ask him to explain his turnaround.

"If I had a clear-cut answer I'd tell you," Dozier said. "You make adjustments, you start seeing the ball, you stay behind the ball . everything feels very comfortable."

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For the second time this season, the Twins homered three times off Royals starter Dillon Gee (4-6), who gave up five earned runs on 11 hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings.

"The first five innings ... we were battling pretty good and the curveball was good," Gee said. "We were able to battle our way through five, and in the sixth it just fell apart."

Duffey (8-8) won for the third time in three starts this month. He allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out six.

His outing was especially timely given the recent troubles of Minnesota's starting staff. In the previous three games, Twins starters lasted a combined 10 innings.

"The more that the short outings get compounded, the more that it taxes your team collectively," Molitor said. "You need a little relief. Long starts are right up there with off days."

Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless eighth and Brandon Kintzler allowed an unearned run in the ninth but held on for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Cheslor Cuthbert hit his 10th home run of the season in the third inning to tie it at 1. But Grossman hit a leadoff home run in the fifth to put the Twins on top for good.

CUTHBERT CRUSHING

Cuthbert took over third base for the injured in late May, and the rookie has been on a tear since the All-Star break. After going 1 for 4 on Saturday he's hitting .336 since July 15. He also had four straight multihit games earlier this week and hasn't gone hitless in consecutive games since June 15-16.

BULLPEN SHUFFLE

The Twins switched lefties in their bullpen on Saturday, calling up Ryan O'Rourke from Triple-A Rochester and designating Andrew Albers for assignment. O'Rourke had a 4.91 ERA in eight appearances with the Twins earlier this season. Albers made one appearance for the Twins this season, giving up five runs in six innings of relief in the second game of a doubleheader against Houston on Thursday.

UP NEXT

LHP Hector Santiago will try to earn his first victory for the Twins on Sunday. Santiago (10-6), acquired from the Angels in a four-player trade on Aug. 1, has allowed eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings in his first two starts for Minnesota, both losses. He'll face RHP Edinson Volquez (8-10), who is 0-2 with three no-decisions since July 9.

Preview: Twins vs. Royals

Sports Xchange | August 14, 2016

For two months, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has been among the hottest hitters in baseball.

Dozier was at it again on Saturday night, cranking his 25th homer of the season -- and 100th of his major league career -- in a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Each team will go for the series win on Sunday, although finding a way to slow down the red-hot Dozier might prove difficult for the defending World Series champions.

Dozier's 18 home runs since June 19 are the most in baseball, and the fifth-year player is suddenly on track for career highs in nearly every major offensive category.

"I think everything, for a while now, has just been feeling good and clicking on all cylinders," Dozier said. "Everything feels really comfortable. Hitting is never easy, but the more you simplify it, it makes it a lot easier."

Besides home runs, Dozier has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games and has an extra-base hit in five straight.

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"Dozier's just been incredible for us," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It's been fun to watch."

Minnesota has made a habit of hitting home runs lately. They are among the best in the league during the last month and hit three more off Royals starter Dillon Gee on Saturday.

Gee was doing a nice job of navigating through the Twins' lineup until back-to-back homers in the sixth inning ended his night and put the game out of reach.

"He was throwing the ball well," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He was one hitter away from having a really, really good outing."

Kansas City will send right-hander Edinson Volquez to the mound in an attempt to get back on track. Volquez has been shelled in each of his last three outings, allowing four or more runs each time out. He has allowed 11 runs and 21 hits in his last 11 innings.

Volquez has been solid against Minnesota in two starts this season, however, giving up two earned runs, six hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings and getting the win at Target Field on May 24.

The Twins will send left-hander Hector Santiago to the mound in search of his first win since being traded to Minnesota on Aug. 1. Santiago was burned for five runs (four earned), seven hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings in a loss to Houston on Tuesday.

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