Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Sunday, September 16, 2018 De
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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Sunday, September 16, 2018 De Jong falters as road woes continue for Twins. MLB.com (Falkoff) p.1 Twins proceeding with caution with Garver. MLB.com (Falkoff) p.2 Tempers flare, Twins fall 10-3 to Royals to extend road losing streak to eight games. Star Tribune (Neal) p.2 Willians Astudillo really is a true hero who demands our constant attention. Star Tribune (Reusse) p.3 Mitch Garver diagnosed with concussion. Star Tribune (Neal) p.4 Saturday's Twins-Kansas City game recap. Star Tribune (Neal) p.5 Twins postgame: On the verge of being swept again in K.C. Star Tribune (Neal) p.5 Twins dejected, and ejected, in third straight loss to Royals. Pioneer Press (Brown) p.6 Twins’ Williams Astudillo: ‘I’ve played hard my whole life’. Pioneer Press (Brown) p.6 Twins can no longer win the division, Indians win the clincher. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p.8 Gordon, Royals clobber Twins 10-3. Fox Sports North (AP) p.8 Royals go for sweep of slumping Twins. Fox Sports North (Sports Xchange) p.9 De Jong falters as road woes continue for Twins Robert Falkoff | MLB.com | September 15, 2018 KANSAS CITY -- The road hasn't been kind to the Twins this season, and their trip to Kansas City thus far has served as the latest example. Minnesota fell to 0-3 to begin its 10-game road swing with a 10-3 loss to the Royals on Saturday as starter Chase De Jong lasted just 3 1/3 innings and the offense couldn't do much against Royals starter Ian Kennedy. While they have a strong home record of 43-31, the Twins' road record sank to 24-50 with the loss. Manager Paul Molitor and third base coach Gene Glynn weren't around to watch the latter portion of Saturday's game. Both were ejected after arguing about a fourth-inning squeeze bunt sequence by Kansas City, in which the Royals had a runner hung up between third and home, but managed to score the run when a throw home by third baseman Gregorio Petit hit Alcides Escobar and caromed away. The objection from Molitor and Glynn centered around whether Cam Gallagher had offered at the pitch with a bunt attempt. "We didn't execute the play, and that's what probably had my emotions high," Molitor said. "They are giving us an out there. Take a runner out of scoring position, and we can't execute. " The Royals wound up with four runs in the fourth for a 6-1 lead and cruised the rest of the way. "Petit got caught charging a little bit once [Gallagher] squared around," Molitor said. "He was backpedaling and the throw [from catcher Willians Astudillo] was high. But you don't compound one bad throw with another bad throw. I thought Gregorio probably rushed a little bit. I thought he had time to set and throw." De Jong, making his second start for the Twins, didn't have nearly as much success as last Sunday, when he threw four shutout innings against the Royals at Target Field. This time out, he allowed five runs (three earned) while striking out four. De Jong allowed eight hits, but the big positive was that he didn't allow a walk. "It was just one of those nights in baseball where they were just putting the ball right where they needed to and they were falling for hits," De Jong said. "I felt really good tonight. I just don't think my line is going to tell the whole story." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Littell exits: Right-hander Zack Littell had to leave Saturday's game after a blister on his right index finger got worse as he was pitching. The reliever worked 2 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits. "Not worth making it any worse," Littell said. Tough start: Both teams had leadoff doubles in the opening frame, but after Joe Mauer doubled in the top of the first, the Twins were set down without moving Mauer along. Whit Merrifield led off the Royals' first with a double, advanced on Adalberto Mondesi's grounder to second and scored on Alex Gordon's grounder toward second base. "We were trying to get a crooked number," Molitor said. "I just didn't feel like one run was something I wanted to play for there." HE SAID IT "He threw some decent breakers and changeups that he mixed in. I tried to let him go as long as he could if he was keeping us in the game. Then, things got a little crazy in the fourth, and we went ahead and got [Gabriel Moya] in there." -- Molitor, on De Jong's performance UP NEXT Right-hander Kyle Gibson (7-13, 3.67 ERA) will make the start for the final game of the season series at 1:15 p.m. CT. Gibson is thoroughly familiar with the Royals, as this will be his 18th career start against Kansas City. Gibson took the loss his last time out against the Yankees, allowing four hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. The Royals will go with right-hander Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.28 ERA), who is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts against Minnesota this year. Twins proceeding with caution with Garver Robert Falkoff | MLB.com | September 15, 2018 KANSAS CITY -- The Twins are proceeding cautiously with catcher Mitch Garver, who had a foul ball ricochet off his face mask on Wednesday when Minnesota wrapped up a homestand against the Yankees. Garver was being monitored for possible concussion symptoms when he arrived with the club in Kansas City. Initial reports were encouraging on Thursday, but manager Paul Molitor said Garver's recovery process didn't go as well on Friday. "He's not doing as well as we had hoped," Molitor said. "The symptoms increased [on Friday]. We're doing testing in the concussion category. We'll have to see how he progresses. There was some light-headedness and dizziness. We'll have to be cautious there." Molitor said Garver was sent back to the hotel for rest before Friday's 8-4 loss. Garver was at the ballpark again on Saturday, and Molitor said Garver might do a little light cardio, but nothing more strenuous than that. Opener options Molitor said the Twins plan to go with an opening pitcher followed by a primary pitcher on Monday and Wednesday in Detroit. It will mark the fifth and sixth times this month that Minnesota taken that approach. "We'll just have to see who we use [among relievers on Saturday and Sunday] before we know who we're going to run out there," Molitor said. Tempers flare, Twins fall 10-3 to Royals to extend road losing streak to eight games La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | September 16, 2018 KANSAS CITY, MO. – Paul Molitor had about two hours to compose himself, and reflect on recent events, following his second ejection of the season on Saturday. It occurred during the fourth inning of the Twins 10-3 loss to Kansas City, which extended their road losing streak to eight games and put them in danger of being swept in the four-game series at Kauffman Stadium By the time media were allowed in the clubhouse following the game, Molitor still had not looked at replays of what triggered his anger. Both he and third base coach Gene Glynn were tossed for arguing balls and strikes, and Molitor realized by then why he got the boot. “Mine was justified,” Molitor said, “In terms of I went outside the boundaries.” The Royals took a 6-1 lead in that inning and kept adding on as the Twins fell to 8-29 on the road since June 29. Kansas City pounded the Twins 2 pitching staff for 16 hits, the eighth time this season the Twins have given up that many. Tempers boiled over during the fourth. With a runner on first, Alcides Escobar lofted a fly ball down the right field line, near the foul pole. Twins right fielder Max Kepler raced to the spot but pulled up just before the wall. The ball bounced just inside the foul line and bounced away as Rosell Herrera scored and Escobar chugged into third. Catcher Cam Gallagher came to the plate, and the Royals attempted a squeeze. But the 1-0 pitch from Chase De Jong was low, and Gallagher appeared to pull his bat back. Escobar had started for home but now was well off third. Twins catcher Willians Astudillo noticed that and threw to third. Escobar then broke for home. Gregorio Petit tried to throw home, but hit Escobar in the back for an error. The run scored to make it 4-1. Meanwhile, the Twins dugout was yelling at home plate umpire Ben May that Gallagher offered at the ball and it should have been called a strike. They appealed to first base umpire Cory Blaser, who ruled that Gallagher pulled his bat back in time. Molitor took to the top step of the dugout to complain — and arguing balls and strikes is a no-no, so May tossed Molitor. “We didn’t execute the play, and that’s probably why my emotions were kind of high anyway,” Molitor said. “They gave us an out there and [a chance to] take a runner out of scoring position but we can’t execute. “So I didn’t even bother to look at it.