Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, September 16, 2017

 Bartolo Colon loses mojo as Blue Jays squeak by Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1  Reusse: Twins' Hildenberger finding success after switch to . Star Tribune (Reusse) p. 2  Doug Mientkiewicz is fired as minor league for Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3  Which Twins relief do you trust the most, and in what order? Star Tribune (Rand) p. 5  Postgame: Molitor had reason to believe Colon had another . Star Tribune (Miller) p. 5  Twins hope Bartolo Colon celebrates Big Sexy Night with another gem. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 6  No late thunder this time for Twins in 4-3 loss to Blue Jays. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 7  Twins’ Jose Berrios holding up well under career-high load. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 8  Twins pitchers flex entrepreneur muscles during rehab year. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 10  In thick of WC chase, Twins turn to lefty Mejia. MLB.com (Jackson) p. 12  Twins fall to Toronto, give up ground in WC race. MLB.com (Bollinger & Jackson) p. 12  Report: Twins have fired minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 13  Twins starter J.O. Berrios unfazed as his workload crosses into uncharted territory. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 14  Twins come up 1 short in loss to Blue Jays. Associated Press p. 15  Playoff paths for teams on the bubble. ESPN (Sawchik) p. 16  Twins fire minor-league manager as he cleans up after Hurricane Irma. Sporting News (Weinstein) p. 17  Levine: Gibson "Has Established Himself" As Part Of Twins' Pitching Equation. MLB Rumors (Adams) p. 17

Bartolo Colon loses shutout mojo as Blue Jays squeak by Twins Phil Miller | Star Tribune | September 16, 2017

Paul Molitor was wearing his Big Sexy T-shirt after the game, as were many Twins players and coaches. Great promotion, everyone agreed, including Big Sexy himself. Just one problem.

“Didn’t work,” Molitor shrugged.

No, Bartolo Colon, proud bearer of the Big Sexy persona (and owner of its trademark, too, all rights reserved), took a shutout into the fifth inning on Friday, but a leadoff by Kevin Pillar, another an inning later by , and a fateful leadoff walk in the seventh inning spoiled the party. Toronto seized that opening to rally for a 4-3 victory that stopped the Twins’ three-game winning streak and cut their lead for the second AL wild card to two over Los Angeles after the Angels won later Friday.

“Every team kind of gets an inning where they score some runs,” said Colon, who departed to a loud ovation after surrendering a tying to Russell Martin, “and I think that was their inning.”

It turned into it, yes, when Colon walked Pillar on four pitches, then fell behind Martin 2-1 and tried to fool Martin with a high that wound up tomahawked off the left field wall on a bounce, scoring Pillar. On a night of long and loud Toronto outs, Eddie Rosario had little chance of catching up to that one.

“Lot of balls in the air. Kind of the way he does it,” Molitor said. “Sometimes it’s going to be some fly balls that might scare you a little bit, and he’s going to give up some homers, too. That’s just how it works.”

The homers were plenty loud, too, with Pillar jumping on an inside fastball and lining it to the left field seats, and Donaldson absolutely crushing a similar pitch into the upper deck in left. But the game was ultimately decided by a ball that traveled only 60 feet on the fly.

That one was by Donaldson, too, after Ryan Pressly relieved Colon with the score tied 3-3 and gave up a to Ryan Goins. “It was just a good bunt. It was an awkward spot,” said Pressly, who cut off third baseman Eduardo Escobar to try to make the play but didn’t pick up the ball cleanly. “If I get to it, I don’t even know if I get him .”

He retired Tenscar Hernandez on a popup and Richard Urena on a with a 98-miles-per-hour fastball. But Donaldson got the go-ahead run home by lining a ball off Pressley’s left foot.

“I’m trying to get out of the way, and the ball hits me,” Pressly said. “I know [Brian] Dozier is playing right behind me.”

That kind of night, Molitor said. “The ball was headed right toward Dozier,” he agreed. “But as baseball can do, a foot got in the way and [it was the] difference in the game.”

It spoiled a festive night for the announced 27,902 fans, except for the large and noisy percentage of them Canadians. After two consecutive nights of walkoff home runs, there was a pennant-race atmosphere in , and it only grew as the Twins took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 off lefthander J.A. Happ, getting a third-inning sacrifice fly from Joe Mauer, a two-out RBI single in the fourth from Chris Gimenez and Brian Dozier’s 31st homer of the season in the fifth.

The ending was a letdown. But at least people got collector’s item T-shirts. “It’s awesome to see fans and my teammates and coaches [wear those] for me,” Colon said. “I’m very thankful for them, and I know my family is very thankful.”

Molitor was, too. “I think this will be my winter workout shirt,” he said.

Reusse: Twins' Hildenberger finding success after switch to sidearm Patrick Reusse | Star Tribune | September 15, 2017

Trevor Hildenberger was a standout at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., and was recruited to Cal-Berkeley on a scholarship. He pitched two innings as a freshman in 2010, did not pitch in what became a redshirt season in 2011, and “around 10 innings’’ as a sophomore in 2012.

“I had to be a disappointment as a pitcher for the coaches, and I know I was a disappointment to myself,’’ Hildenberger said.

The real emotional blow as a competitor came in 2011, when the Golden Bears reached the College .

“Our pitching staff was stacked, and I wasn’t good enough to be part of it,’’ Hildenberger said. “I warmed up once … in an 18-inning game. I was going in for the 19th, if the game hadn’t ended. I watched the World Series from my couch in California.”

There’s generally a story as to how a pitcher becomes a sidearmer. Most often, it’s due to an injury, and the search for a comfortable arm slot. Pat Neshek developed his submarine style after a wrist injury as a high school senior.

There was no such malady involved in Hildenberger’s transformation from an overhand pitcher with mediocre stuff to the sidearm style that has made him a vital ingredient in the Twins’ unlikely push toward the 2017 postseason.

California was practicing after the 2012 season. An showed up wearing No. 37, and Dave Esquer said that number was more suited for a corner .

Hildenberger was wearing No. 26 and asked the coach for his impression of that number. Esquer mentioned that both UCLA and Washington had sidearm pitchers who wore that number, and this turned into a suggestion that maybe Hildenberger should try a session as a sidearmer.

“My pitches had better movement throwing from the side, and the coaches said, ‘OK, start throwing that way and we’ll see what happens,’ ” Hildenberger said.

He became a serviceable pitcher for the Bears in 2013, with a 5-4 record and a 5.31 ERA in 26 games.

“I had been in school for four years and had the credits I needed,’’ Hildenberger said. “I was going to finish up and find a job.’’

Late that summer, the Bears had a recruit sign after being drafted. Hildenberger said: “The coaches called and said, ‘We have some scholarship 2 money we didn’t expect. You want to come back?’ ’’

Hildenberger shrugged and said: “Another year of baseball. Why not?”

He was sitting outside the Twins’ clubhouse at midafternoon Friday. That one more year at Cal — 28 games, 10 saves, a 2.83 ERA — turned into being selected in the 22nd round by the Twins in the 2014 draft.

He was an All-Star in the and in the in 2015. He was an All-Star in the Class AA Southern League in 2016.

In late June, Doug Mientkiewicz, his manager with Chattanooga, said: “If he’s not in the big leagues by the end of the year, I’ll be surprised.’’ In late July, tendinitis in his flexor tendon sent him to the disabled list. Soreness in the flexor tendon often has been a symptom of an elbow ligament that’s ready to tear.

“The MRI showed the ligament was fine,’’ Hildenberger said. “Chad Jackson, the rehab trainer in Fort Myers, gave me some exercises for the flexor. I’ve had no problems since.’’

That has been very good news for . Hildenberger was added to the roster on June 23. As the Twins’ pursuit of the postseason has become more earnest, the manager has become very reliant on the rookie.

“He’s not strictly a sidearmer,’’ Molitor said. “He throws three or four pitches from different arm angles. That can make him a handful for any hitter.’’

Hildenberger didn’t start throwing a changeup until the extra season at California. It has become his best pitch — inducing numerous horrible hacks from big-league hitters.

“We don’t want to push him too hard, but he will take the ball,’’ Molitor said. “We used him three days in a row earlier this month, and he was fine.’’

Earlier Friday, Neshek was contacted and asked if he had watched Hildenberger. “No, but I’ll go look at some video and get back to you,’’ said Neshek, with Colorado after being an All-Star for the Phillies this summer.

Hildenberger said: “I watch closely all the pitchers who throw from the side. Neshek had a heck of career. Let me know if he has any advice.’’

Pat’s sidewinding advice would probably be this: Don’t spin a backdoor in the middle of the plate to a lefthanded hitter.

Doug Mientkiewicz is fired as minor league manager for Twins Phil Miller | Star Tribune| September 16, 2017

Doug Mientkiewicz, who followed his seven seasons as a player with the Twins with five seasons as a manager in the organization, was fired by the organization on Friday.

“I wasn’t shocked, because I had a message that changes were taking place,” Mientkiewicz said. “I feel bad for the kids who played for me, including the ones I managed that are helping the Twins make a run for the playoffs right now. Ask any of them about me as a manager.”

Mientkiewicz’s teams finished in first place in four of his five seasons at the helm. He led the Class A Fort Myers Miracle to first-place finishes and postseason berths in 2013, 2014 and this summer, winning the championship in 2014, and his Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts won the Southern League championship 2015. He posted winning records in all five seasons as a manager, and compiled a winning percentage of .563 (385-299) overall.

But the 42-year-old Mientkiewicz was informed of his firing on Friday, as part of an overall reorganization of the team’s minor league and scouting system, as he cleared debris left by Hurricane Irma from his Florida Keys neighborhood.

“I’ve been cutting down trees up and down the block, cleaning up after the hurricane, and watching the National Guard go up and down the street. My cellphone was out for several days, and then I got a call today,” said Mientkiewicz, known throughout the organization as “Dougie Baseball” for his intensity about the game. “I’m out here working my rear end off, dealing with the remnants of the hurricane, and they call to tell me I’m fired. You think they will ever do something professional as an organization?” 3

Twins General Manager Thad Levine, though, said he and Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey were acting in Mientkiewicz’s interest by giving him as much notice as possible that he wouldn’t be back in 2018. “Changes are being made, and we have worked very closely with our senior leadership team and departments to determine the best course of action for the future,” Levine said. “Our hope and goal is to do so in a timely fashion, so that people who are not being retained have 100 percent access to job openings that may occur around the industry.”

Levine declined to reveal the reasons for Mientkiewicz’s firing. “First, I would note how much we appreciate the success that Doug has had within the organization, not only in the dugout as a manager but also in how much he’s impacted players and their development under him,” Levine said. “As for decisions about staffing, we would not go into those details. Those are conversations we would have with Doug personally.”

Mientkiewicz, however, said he was informed of the decision by Brad Steil, the Twins’ director of minor league operations, and not Falvey or Levine. In fact, he said, the only time he talked to either one during the Miracle’s season was when Levine called to inform him he was being suspended by the Twins for three games for an on-field dispute with an umpire.

The phone call frustrated him, too, Mientkiewicz said, and not just because he was being fired. Mientkiewicz congratulated Steil on his pending promotion within the organization, “and he said, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you,’ Then he said, ‘We’ve been going through the coaching staffs here, and we’ve decided not to bring you back.’ ”

According to Mientkiewicz, he asked Steil if the decision was his, or if it came from Falvey or Levine. “He said, ‘We don’t give out that information.’ I said, ‘I’m not just some guy; I go back with this organization 25 years. I deserve an answer,’ ” Mientkiewicz said. “And Steil said, ‘We’re not going to give you one.’ ”

Mientkiewicz was drafted by the Twins out of Florida State in the fifth round of the 1995 draft, came up through the system, won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and debuted with the Twins in 1998. He batted .275 in parts of seven seasons in Minnesota, won a Gold Glove at first base in 2001, and became one of the leaders of two division-winning teams before being traded to the Red Sox at the trade deadline in 2004. He won a world championship with Boston, memorably recording the final out at first base, and played for the Mets, Royals, Yankees, Pirates and Dodgers before retiring in 2009.

Rasmussen also out

Eric Rasmussen, a Twins employee for 27 seasons and the team’s minor league pitching coordinator for the past nine, also was fired Friday. He served as pitching coach for affiliates for 18 seasons, and filled in as Twins pitching coach for six weeks in 2016 during ’s suspension following a drunken-driving arrest.

Steil promoted

Steil, who has directed Twins minor league operations for five years, will be shifted to director of pro scouting, Levine confirmed.

In the newly created position, Steil will work with vice president for player personnel Mike Radcliff and pro scouting coordinator Vern Followell to coordinate the team’s scouting and analytics departments “to develop and synthesize our information gathering and analysis” of major league players and the Twins’ own roster.

“The position rounds out Brad’s portfolio as he poises himself for a career in senior leadership,” Levine said of Steil, a Twins employee for 17 seasons.

Levine and Falvey are implementing a reorganization of the scouting department, which included firing four area scouts last month. “[Former GM] was supremely experienced and accomplished as a scout,” Levine said, but he and Falvey don’t have that background. So they are working to expand the department.

4

Which Twins relief pitchers do you trust the most, and in what order? Michael Rand | Star Tribune| September 15, 2017

In his postgame comments Thursday after another dramatic Twins victory, manager Paul Molitor had a telling quote when talking about his bullpen. He was asked specifically about the role of rookie Trevor Hildenberger and how the manager likes to use him. Molitor said, “I kind of look for the biggest spot in the game. He’s just been that valuable and reliable.”

It’s clear the Hildenberger, who arrived in late June and was mostly used early on in low-leverage situations, has vaulted past several other relief options the Twins have when it comes to earning Molitor’s trust.

Hildenberger, with his funky arm angles and devastating changeup, has repaid that faith. In 19 outings since the start of August, after the Twins traded arguably their most reliable reliever (Brandon Kintzler), Hildenberger has a 1.77 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .211 off him in that span, and he’s delivered 21 against just two walks.

As I came to make a list of which Twins relievers I trust the most at this moment — and in what order — it became clear that I agreed with Molitor. Hildenberger might not be the in a traditional sense, but he’s being used to get the most important outs in a lot of games.

Beyond Hildenberger, who do you trust?

I asked that question on , and the consensus seemed to be Matt Belisle, Taylor Rogers and Alan Busenitz — not always in that exact order, but often in that order — are the ones to trust. It’s notable that Busenitz, like Hildenberger, is a rookie mid-year call-up. Belisle was a low- leverage free agent signee this past offseason who had a bloated ERA just a few months ago. Rogers is a second-year guy.

I’d generally agree those four, with Hildenberger at the top, are the go-to guys right now. If I absolutely needed one out, regardless of whether a righty or lefty was at the plate, and Hildenberger was unavailable or had already pitched? I’m not entirely sure who I would want on the mound.

Beyond those four, had a bigger role earlier in the year. He’s had some rough outings lately, but his FIP (which tries to measure a pitcher’s contribution independent of how his defense plays) is the second-best on the Twins behind just Hildenberger. He’s still useful, but he’s prone to blow-up innings. I trust him more than Molitor seems to trust him.

Ryan Pressly has a 2.29 ERA since the start of August, but he’s still several solid outings away from being someone a fan would routinely trust again. Same goes for Glen Perkins, the former All-Star closer who is still finding his way after coming back from his serious labrum injury.

What I do know is it’s pretty fascinating that if the Twins make it to the postseason and play the one-game Wild Card matchup at , the biggest moment of the game could be reserved for a nearly 27-year-old rookie pitcher whose best pitch is a cross-fire changeup.

Postgame: Molitor had reason to believe Colon had another inning Phil Miller | Star Tribune| September 16, 2017

Paul Molitor had a tough decision to make after six innings. He believes he made the right call — but it didn’t work out.

Bartolo Colon had allowed only two solo home runs over six innings, and had thrown just 78 pitches. He had given up some long, loud outs, but that is “kind of the way he does it,” the Twins manager said. “Sometimes it’s going to be fly balls that might scare you a little bit, and he’s going to give up some homers, too. That’s just how it works.”

Kevin Pillar was due up first in the seventh, followed by Russell Martin, and they both had Colon hard in their previous at-bat, Pillar with a homer five rows deep into the left field bleachers, and Martin with a double off the right field wall. Both were righthanders, though, and while Pillar was a career 6-for-10 against Colon, Martin was 2-for-9.

The primary relievers in the Twins bullpen had been used a lot during back-to-back extra-inning games, so not everybody — Taylor Rogers and Trevor Hildenberger chief among them — was available on Friday. So Molitor chose to stick with Colon for a seventh inning.

“Pillar’s been a tough matchup for him, I get that. But we were short a few guys tonight,” Molitor said. “I just thought that his history with Martin [helped], and I thought [Colon] was a better option for a potential ground ball.”

But Colon committed one of Molitor’s biggest pet peeves: A leadoff walk. It took only four pitches, too, and Colon then fell behind Martin 2-1 before attempting to get the Jays to swing under a fastball just above the strike zone. Instead, Russell reached up and cracked the pitch 5 over Eddie Rosario’s head in left field, ending Colon’s night with a game-tying double.

“I had reasons for thinking [Colon] still was our best chance, but he just couldn't get the ball down on Martin,” Molitor said. “The double, that was a big hit.”

XXX

Molitor said he was concerned on Thursday after Teoscar Hernandez accidentally hit catcher Jason Castro on the back of his helmet with his bat.

“I think it stunned him more than anything. You’re not anticipating that whack on the back of the head too often,” the manager said. But Castro apparently survived the blow with no damage; he was out of the Twins’ lineup on Friday, but it was a regularly scheduled day off, Molitor said.

“I checked with him every inning the rest of the game, and today he said he was good to go,” Molitor said.

XXX

Jose Berrios became a father for the third time on Friday, when his wife Jannieliz gave birth to Diego Jose Berrios. The couple also have a 3- year-old daughter, Valentina, and a 13-month-old son, Sebastian.

Twins hope Bartolo Colon celebrates Big Sexy Night with another gem Phil Miller | Star Tribune| September 15, 2017

I asked a few members of the grounds crew how they feel about the mess the Twins have left at home plate the past couple of nights — thousands of sunflower seeds, dozens of pieces of gum, everything soaked in water and Gatorade. Turns out, they’re totally OK with the Twins celebrating walk-off homers for two straight games. Rake, shovel, good as new.

It’s hard to imagine they’ll have to do the big cleanup again tonight, but who knows? There’s a festive atmosphere around Target Field already, partly due to the Twins’ postseason charge, and partly due to tonight’s promotion: Big Sexy Night. Bartolo Colon just has that effect on people.

Twins manager Paul Molitor has noticed “the fact he’s been able to continually defy the odds and do what he’s done in the game, and do it in a way that’s colorful, doing it in a way that’s obviously very fun-loving.”

That’s the spirit of Big Sexy Night. “He knows the seriousness of baseball, but he could just as well be playing a little sandlot ball with his buddies,” Molitor said. “You just never know what particular antic he’s going to bring to a game.”

The Twins are hoping for the “one-run antic,” the one he displayed in Toronto last month. That was Colon’s fourth with with the Twins, and he hasn’t recorded another one since.

Meanwhile, Miguel Sano hit in the batting cages this afternoon, but that was the extent of his workout. And Jose Berrios had a big day: His wife, Jannieliz, gave birth to their third child, a boy the couple named Diego Jose Berrios. They already have a 3-year-old daughter, Valentina, and a 13-month-old son, Sebastian.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s second game of a four-game series with the Blue Jays:

BLUE JAYS

Hernandez LF Donaldson 3B Smoak 1B Bautista RF Morales DH Pillar CF Martin C Goins SS 6

Barney 2B

Happ LHP

TWINS

Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Polanco SS Escobar 3B Buxton CF Rosario LF Garver DH Gimenez C Kepler RF

Colon RHP

No late thunder this time for Twins in 4-3 loss to Blue Jays Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | September 15, 2017

Looking to make it an unlikely hat trick of walk-off thunder, the Twins came up short Friday night.

Instead of wild celebrations sparked by 10th-inning homers from Eddie Rosario and , there was only quiet resignation at Target Field as a large contingent of fans cheered a 4-3 win over the wild-card hopefuls.

“We really didn’t give ourselves much of an opportunity,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “We didn’t have a great offensive night.”

Brian Dozier’s team-leading 31st homer wasn’t enough for the Twins, who saw a three-game winning streak end after building a three-game lead in the race for the second wild card. They also fell four games behind the , current holders of the top wild-card spot and favorites to play host to the do-or-die game on Oct. 3.

Kevin Pillar and Josh Donaldson clubbed solo homers off Twins starter Bartolo Colon on Big Sexy Night, a promotion that included a T-shirt giveaway in honor of the 44-year-old phenomenon. Colon, by the way, owns the trademark to the “Big Sexy” nickname he picked up while pitching in New York.

“My agents trademarked it,” he said through a translator. “I’m not really sure what they’re going to do with it. It’s more for the future. We’ll see what happens.”

Russell Martin chased Colon (6-13) after 86 pitches with a game-tying double in the seventh, the ball hooking just beyond the reach of Rosario in deep left field. Martin, who had been 2 for 10 off Colon, also doubled off the wall in the fifth.

“I had reasons for thinking that still was my best chance,” Molitor said. “I was concerned about the running game and thought that was a better option for a potential groundball. He just couldn’t get the ball down on Martin. That was a big hit.”

A pair of infield hits off reliever Ryan Pressly — a well-placed bunt by Ryan Goins and a Donaldson comebacker — led to the eventual winning run that same inning. Working for the first time in six days, Pressly credited Goins for his execution and third baseman Eduardo Escobar for a warning that went unheeded.

“Esky told me, ‘Hey, be prepared for the bunt,’ “ Pressly said. “He warned me. It was just a good bunt by Goins. It was just an awkward spot. If I get to it, I don’t even know if I get him out.”

After getting ahead of Donaldson with two quick strikes, Pressly saw him get just enough of a curveball to send it up the middle. This time Pressly was trying to get out of the way so Brian Dozier could make the inning-ending play.

“I know Dozier’s playing right behind me,” Pressly said. “Just chalk it up to some bad luck. First time I’m trying to get out of the way, and the ball hits me right in the (right) ankle. Just couldn’t get the right bounce.” 7

Molitor was willing to use veteran Matt Belisle in a potential situation for the third straight night, but the manager was determined to avoid deploying young relievers Trevor Hildenberger, Alan Busenitz and, if possible, Taylor Rogers.

Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ (9-10) had dropped four straight starts with a 7.52 average against the Twins, including a 6-1 loss on Aug. 25 in Toronto. This time he worked into the seventh, scattering seven hits and a walk.

Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly in the third and Chris Gimenez’s RBI double in the fourth accounted for the Twins’ other runs. Three Blue Jays relievers retired the final eight Twins batters in order, with Roberto Osuna (10 blown saves) working the ninth for his 36th conversion.

Buxton notched his 26th in 27 attempts after a bunt single in the fourth. It was his 21st consecutive stolen base without being caught, tying him with Zoilo Versalles (1965-66) for third-longest streak in Twins history.

Matt Lawton (1999-2000) and Chuck Knoblauch (1994) share the Twins’ mark at 22.

“Adrenaline was kicking,” Pressly said. “Great crowd, great fans. Blue Jays fans showed up tonight too. That was a great atmosphere. It was fun to be out there.”

Just not as much fun as the Twins had the prior two nights.

Twins’ Jose Berrios holding up well under career-high innings load Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | September 15, 2017

Turns out Jose Berrios had a good reason for feeling fatigued after his last start on Thursday night.

He and wife Jannieliz were getting ready to welcome their third child, a son named Diego Jose who was born Friday afternoon at 2:20. The child joins big sister Valentina, 3; and brother Sebastian, 13 months.

Even after pushing his career-high innings total close to 176, trailing only Ervin Santana (193 2/3) in the Twins organization, the 23-year-old right-hander was keeping his eyes on the prize.

“My goal is always 200 innings,” Berrios said through a translator. “I always work during the offseason to get to 200 innings. I know I’m maybe a little far from that, but I feel great. Nothing has affected me.”

His next start, Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, will be the 30th of Berrios’ season, including six early-season starts at -A Rochester. He scaled back his most recent side session to just 15 pitches, well down from his usual 35-40, and the Twins’ medical and conditioning staff has spoken with Berrios about toning down his famously brutal workouts with three regular-season turns left.

“I think it’s more general fatigue than it is arm,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “We’re just going to try to be smart. We all know how he works out. We’ve been trying to get him to back off a little bit. Not stop working out, but just try to conserve the best you can for the days you pitch.”

Even with Adalberto Mejia rejoining the rotation this weekend, the Twins passed up an opportunity to give Berrios an extra day or two between starts. Including Rochester, he has enjoyed five or more days between starts nearly half the time (14 of 29 starts). Berrios, whose velocity had dipped a bit his last two times out, averaged 94.5 mph with his four-seam fastball against the Toronto Blue Jays, according to BrooksBaseball.net. He touched a career-high 98.2 mph.

There is no magic shutdown number in terms of innings, Molitor said, adding he has discussed that concept with chief baseball officer Derek Falvey to see if the organizational philosophy might change in that regard.

“What Derek has found, and he’s as much of a pitching expert as anybody, is that it’s really so individualistic,” Molitor said. “You could try to generalize but a lot depends on the person and how they throw and how they take care of themselves. I think we’re all comfortable (Berrios) is going to be fine.”

MIENTKIEWICZ FIRED Doug Mientkiewicz, the former Gold Glove and World Series-winning who returned to the Twins organization as a minor-league manager in 2013, has been fired after five highly successful seasons. 8

Also not invited back were minor-league pitching coordinator and Triple-A Rochester athletic trainer Larry Bennese. Rasmussen, 65, had been with the Twins organization for 27 seasons, including the past nine as coordinator, and spent six weeks as interim big-league pitching coach in 2016.

Mientkiewicz, 43, managed Class A Fort Myers to the Florida State League playoffs this season after winning championships with the Miracle in 2014 and Double-A Chattanooga in 2015. He interviewed for the Twins’ big-league managerial post after was fired in 2014.

“Minor leagues are about development,” Mientkiewicz said in a text message. “All my guys are winning up there. They want to win games? The teams I’ve had have always won. Ask any player I had in that clubhouse if I helped them.”

Fourteen of the 34 Twins on the expanded September roster played for Mientkiewicz in the minors. That includes starting position players Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, , and Eddie Rosario as well as reserves Kennys Vargas, , Zack Granite and Niko Goodrum.

Among current Twins pitchers, Jose Berrios, Trevor Hildenberger, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey and Aaron Slegers all passed through Mientkiewicz’s tutelage. Two more of his former pitchers, Ryan O’Rourke and J.T. Chargois, are on the 60-day disabled list.

Mientkiewicz, who like Rasmussen received the news in a phone call from Twins farm director Brad Steil, posted an overall mark of 398-305 (.565), including the postseason. The 12-year big leaguer, whose Islamorada, Fla., home was impacted by Hurricane Irma, said he was touched by the number of former players who have reached out to him with words of encouragement.

Rasmussen, who pitched eight big-league seasons from 1975-83, was philosophical about the unwelcome news.

“I get it,” he said. “It’s a tough business and, right or wrong, these things happen. I can sleep at night knowing that I gave my best to the Twins for 27 years. I’m so saddened by the way it ended. I wish these kids well. We all knew we were headed in the right direction all along.”

CASTRO’S SCARE Jason Castro was out of Friday’s lineup a day after being hit on the catcher’s helmet by the follow-through from Teoscar Hernandez of the Toronto Blue Jays, but Paul Molitor said Castro was fine.

The plan was to have Chris Gimenez catch Bartolo Colon anyway.

“I was a little concerned,” Molitor said of Castro’s sixth-inning scare. “You see him stay down there for a second. I think it stunned him more than anything. You’re not anticipating that whack in the back of the head too often.”

Castro, who recently missed 10 days after suffering a concussion on a foul tip Aug. 23 in , reported no concussion symptoms and was not tested for concussion, Molitor said.

“I checked with him every inning the rest of the game,” Molitor said. “He was fine. (Friday) he was good to go.”

BRIEFLY Miguel Sano took batting practice in the cage on Day 27 of his rehabilitation from a stress reaction in his left shin.

Rookie lefty Adalberto Mejia, set to make his first big-league start since Aug. 8 on Saturday, should have close to 90 pitches at his disposal, Molitor said. Mejia, who had been out with an upper arm strain, threw 73 pitches in five shutout innings last Saturday for Double-A Chattanooga in the Southern League playoffs.

Closer Matt Belisle, coming off just his second blown save in nine chances since replacing traded all-star Brandon Kintzler, wasn’t expected to be available Friday. Molitor figured to use a committee approach if a late lead required protection. No decision had been made on holding a simulated game Saturday to get extra work for little-used Twins relievers and bench players such as Zack Granite and Niko Goodrum. Gulf Coast League manager Ramon Borrego has joined the Twins as an extra coach for a few games with fall instructional league delayed by Hurricane Irma.

Former Twins catcher and minor-league manager Phil Roof was in attendance, as was former Twins general manager Terry Ryan, in town scouting for the . 9

Twins pitchers flex entrepreneur muscles during rehab year Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | September 15, 2017

Neither Trevor May nor Ryan O’Rourke will throw a single pitch this season. Instead, their summer has been mostly consumed by mind-numbing rehabilitation programs after undergoing Tommy John surgery six weeks apart this spring.

That doesn’t mean that 2017 has been a complete washout for the Twins pitchers in their late 20s. All that down time, for instance, has given them a chance to flex different muscles as budding entrepreneurs.

For May, that means combining his love of videogame streaming — the fast-growing world of eSports — with a longstanding desire to connect with his fan base as much as possible. Already an accomplished music DJ/producer, May has added a business component with a startup venture called Esports Lab.

“Right now, it’s still the wild, wild west,” said May, CEO of the five-person company and its leading shareholder at 40 percent.

O’Rourke, who rose from the relative obscurity of Division II Merrimack College in suburban Boston, has taken on an advisory role and small equity stake in ScoutDay, a baseball recruiting app meant to help talented young players get noticed by college programs.

Alex Tuccio, ScoutDay’s founder, reached out to O’Rourke before to gauge his interest in coming on board.

“This was not the first person that’s ever pitched me an idea,” said O’Rourke, a 13th-round draft pick of the Twins in 2010. “I’ve been pitched a few ideas for (startup) companies. This is the first one where I thought, ‘I could have used this.’ ”

In between their rigid routines of careful arm exercises, O’Rourke and May have found themselves energized by their new endeavors. “I’m learning a lot about the business world and the venture capital world of how nothing’s for certain and things take a long time,” O’Rourke said. “I never knew I needed a lawyer.”

Despite that real-world realization, O’Rourke is making the most of his downtime.

“It’s good experience, good exposure, and it still keeps me in the game at the same time,” he said. “It’s a baseball app, so it’s been interesting. It’s been a fun process.”

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

May, who turns 28 on Sept. 23, has been moonlighting as a freelance diarist for the MLB Trade Rumors website this summer. Flashing his trademark sense of humor, May has given readers of the popular transaction site a behind-the-scenes look at the year-long rehab process for a pitcher coming off ligament reconstruction in his throwing elbow.

The bulk of his free time, however, has gone to his startup, a natural outgrowth of his participation in the popular live-streaming gaming site Twitch. The ball really got rolling when he was back home in Seattle shortly after his mid-March surgery.

That’s where he met eSports journalist Kevin Hughes, a women’s volleyball coach by trade, and 20-something Jake Laumann, director of operations for a popular eSports tournament.

“I was thinking, ‘I have a year now. How do I want to get involved in this?’ “ May said. “I made a concerted effort to seek this stuff out. It’s been a ride, developing an organizational system to run a company. Starting from scratch is tough.”

May brought both Hughes and Laumann on board and went through the process of incorporating as a privately held company. This summer they added a pair of 22-year-old programmers — Dennis Matz of Germany and Simon Pinfold of New Zealand — to launch a suite of online analytics for the hugely popular Activision Blizzard property called “Overwatch.”

Think of Matz as “The Bill James of ‘Overwatch,’ ” May said, complete with deep-dive statistical analysis and detailed rankings sytems, while Pinfold is charged with fleshing out the brainstorms of May and his other partners.

“Everybody’s all-in on this,” May said. “It’s a huge opportunity.”

Ultimately, the vision is for Esports Lab to provide all-encompassing assistance (scouting, recruiting, coaching, analytics and beyond) to 10 potentially millions of participants in eSports leagues around the globe. The company already has signed partnership agreements with WaWa’s Boot Camp and Concord.gg as it seeks to spread its tendrils throughout the eSports community.

“So far it’s been Trevor paying for everything,” May said. “We’ve been paying people in equity. It’s taken us eight months to get to the point we’re at right now. Usually it takes three years to get anything off the ground.”

Considering the buy-in for an “Overwatch” franchise costs $20 million — and the owners of the New England Patriots (Kraft family), (Wilpon family) and Sacramento Kings (Andy Miller) have gotten involved — the future seems bright for eSports in general and May’s company in particular. Teams already have been awarded to owners in , London, Seoul, Boston, Houston and the Bay Area.

According to NewZoo.com, global eSports is projected to blossom into a $1.5 billion industry by 2020. That would be more than double where it’s projected to finish 2017 ($696 million).

May hasn’t yet pitched the idea of a Twin Cities eSports franchise to the Pohlad family, but he sees a natural tie-in to their other holdings beyond the Twins.

“I have heard through the grapevine Jim Pohlad has explored or at least asked around about eSports,” May said. “Their family is well, well diversified and very savvy. It would be interesting to get in front of him and explain where we are in the situation and the market in general, how big it really is. Most people don’t quite grasp it yet.”

SHRINKING THE LANDSCAPE

While admittedly still in the early stages, ScoutDay already has helped a young ballplayer land a Division 1 scholarship at the University of Hartford. This month it agreed to a partnership with Iowa-based USA.

“We’ve just spit-balled a bunch of things back and forth,” O’Rourke said. “How long the video would be, the ease of the app, what the interface of the app should look like, what coaches and what players you should target. It’s basically a recruiting service for high school kids. We’re just trying to shrink the recruiting landscape.”

He looks around the Twins clubhouse and sees fellow low-round draft picks such as Trevor Hildenberger, Zack Granite, Mitch Garver and Brian Dozier. That makes O’Rourke believe there’s a big future for ScoutDay.

“This app is going to help someone,” he said. “A D-1 scholarship like Hartford, that’s a good win. In five years, though, when a kid goes from ScoutDay to the big leagues, that will be the real win for us.”

In the meantime, O’Rourke recently sat in on a pitch call with May and agreed to join him in a small investment stake in the NRG eSports team Miller co-founded with Kings co-owner Mark Mastrov. Other athlete investors include Shaquille O’Neal, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, which isn’t bad company for a couple of ambitious dreamers making the major-league minimum salary.

“It’s crazy because everybody else in our group has no clue about eSports except for me,” May said. “I said, ‘This is a no-brainer. This is going to make money.’ ”

Rather than sit around feeling sorry for themselves, both rehabbing Twins pitchers have expanded their horizons in unexpected ways. Next month, for instance, May will head to Long Beach, Calif., for the annual Twitch Con gathering of eSports enthusiasts and investors. He and his wife, Kate, will head to another conference hosted by Activision Blizzard in November in Burbank, Calif.

Both events will be opportunities for May and his business partners to seek additional venture capital or perhaps even field buyout offers from billion-dollar companies without the need to pursue a day job as a pitcher in the major leagues.

“There’s going to come a point where I know I’m not going to be able to be a real CEO,” May said. “We’re exploring those options, getting the funding and then bringing in people that know what the heck they’re doing, and we’re just there to continue guiding the vision.”

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In thick of WC chase, Twins turn to lefty Mejia Shane Jackson | MLB.com | September 16, 2017

Left-hander Adalberto Mejia will make his return to the Twins rotation' Saturday as the club looks to build its lead over the Angels, Mariners and others for the second American League Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays will counter with right-hander Marco Estrada at Target Field.

Mejia (4-5, 4.47 ERA) is slated to make his first start for Minnesota since Aug. 8; he has been on the shelf with a left biceps strain. In his last rehab outing, Mejia threw five shutout innings of one-hit ball for Double-A Chattanooga, and prior to his injury, he posted a 3.55 ERA over his previous 10 turns in the rotation. Mejia assumes the fifth-starter role, with fellow rookie Aaron Slegers moving to the bullpen.

"It's like freshman basketball players in March Madness," Minnesota Paul Molitor said. "There's a little bit of risk with limited experience. But I'm not overly concerned about that with [Mejia]. He pitched as well as he could pitch [on rehab assignment], but it's going to be a different animal facing a team that can handle good pitching."

Estrada (8-8, 4.96 ERA) will look to build off his last outing as Toronto attempts to play spoiler this weekend. In his last start, Estrada struck out seven Orioles batters across five innings in a 5-3 Blue Jays victory. In addition, the righty did not walk a batter for the first time since June 13. Estrada has now whiffed 166 batters this year, a career high for the Toronto hurler.

Three things to know about this game

• Estrada has faced the Twins nine times in his career, including seven starts, and has gone 2-2 with a 4.26 ERA over a total of 44 1/3 innings, with 37 strikeouts and 12 walks.

• Twins first baseman Joe Mauer has a team-high 18 career at-bats vs. Estrada, with six hits (.333) and four RBIs against him. Meanwhile, Byron Buxton has hit .235 and has a home run off Estrada.

• The Twins have hit a home run in 14 consecutive games dating back to Sept. 1, which is tied for the third-longest streak in club history.

Twins fall to Toronto, give up ground in WC race Rhett Bollinger and Shane Jackson | MLB.com | September 16, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS -- Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar backed left-hander J.A. Happ with solo homers, as the Blue Jays edged the Twins by a score of 4-3 on Friday night at Target Field. Minnesota's lead for the second spot in the American League Wild Card race dropped to two games with the Angels beating the Rangers.

Happ tossed 6 1/3 innings in the win, allowing three runs on seven hits. Brian Dozier clubbed a solo shot in the fifth, while Joe Mauer (sacrifice fly) and Chris Gimenez (single) each drove in a run in the third and fourth, respectively. Happ finished with five strikeouts and one walk to notch his third straight victory.

"[Happ] was really, really good," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He's been on a nice little roll, and they are swinging the bats over there. They're a dangerous team. They can do a lot of things, but he got some big outs."

The Blue Jays rallied with two runs in the seventh off Bartolo Colon, who was handed the loss on Big Sexy Night at Target Field. Colon was pulled after two batters in the seventh, and was charged with four runs on five hits in his six-plus innings. Toronto catcher Russell Martin delivered a pair of doubles, including the game-tying knock, in his second game back since returning from the disabled list after recovering from an oblique injury.

"He just couldn't get the ball down on Martin, and the double was a big hit," Twins manager Paul Molitor said of the decision to stick with Colon to face Martin in the seventh. "I just thought that his history with Martin, and being concerned a bit about the running game, I thought that was a better option for a potential ground ball."

Meanwhile, both Pillar and Donaldson recorded solo homers off Colon. Pillar led off the fifth with his 16th blast of the season, and Donaldson -- who finished a triple shy of the cycle -- started off the sixth with his 26th home run. According to Statcast™, both homers had a hit probability of 24 percent.

Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna pitched a clean ninth for his 36th save of the season and first since blowing back-to-back save chances on Sept. 3 and Sept. 5. 12

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Jays rally in seventh: Colon was pulled after two batters in the seventh, including a game-tying double by Martin. Per Statcast™, Martin's double to left had an exit velocity of 106.4 mph. Toronto then took its first lead of the game on a pair of fortunate infield singles off Twins reliever Ryan Pressly. In fact, Donaldson's go-ahead single -- a comebacker off Pressly -- had a 34 percent hit probability, per Statcast™.

"Colon was shutting us down, but we got something going late," Gibbons said. "Bartolo has always been tough on us. We couldn't really square it up, but that's vintage [Colon]. He makes you beat him by putting the ball in play."

Dozier's dinger: Dozier launched a full-count fastball from Happ over the left-field wall in the bottom of the fifth to give the Twins a 3-1 advantage. According to Statcast™, Dozier's 31st long ball of the season went a projected 401 feet and had an exit velocity of 106.9 mph. It was his hardest-hit home run of the season and fourth-hardest since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015. Minnesota has now homered in 14 consecutive games since Sept. 1, which is tied for the third-longest streak in club history.

QUOTABLE

"It's awesome to see the fans and my teammates do that for me. I'm very thankful for them, and I know my family is very thankful. It's awesome." -- Colon, on Big Sexy Night

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Following a bunt single to begin the fourth, Byron Buxton swiped second base to notch his 26th steal of the season. It was his 21st consecutive successful base theft, which is tied for the third-most in Twins history.

Buxton would then score on Gimenez's RBI single.

WHAT'S NEXT

Blue Jays: Right-hander Marco Estrada (8-8, 4.96 ERA) is slated to start for the Blue Jays on Saturday for Game 3 of the four-game series, beginning at 7:10 p.m. ET. His last time out, Estrada struck out seven batters across five innings in a win over Baltimore. He is 2-2 with a 4.26 ERA in nine career games against Minnesota.

Twins: Left-hander Adalberto Mejia (4-5, 4.47 ERA) will make his first start since Aug. 8 after missing more than a month due to a left biceps strain. He pitched well in three rehab starts, including five scoreless innings Saturday in the Southern League playoffs with Double-A Chattanooga. Game time is 6:10 p.m. CT.

Report: Twins have fired minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | September 15, 2017

The Twins have fired former Fort Myers Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz, according to a report from Phil Miller in the Star Tribune.

Mientkiewicz, a former Twins player who also managed in the organization for 5 minor leagues seasons, had just come off a winning season following his assignment to A-ball. The former MLB first baseman and World Series champion (with the Red Sox) had previously managed Double-A Chattanooga, including a Southern League title in 2015. He managed guys like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Max Kepler, J.O. Berrios and more prominent young players in the organization.

“I feel bad for the kids who played for me,” he told Miller. “…Ask any of them about me as a manager.”

The Twins, according to GM Thad Levine, wanted to be prompt with the firing, to give former employees like Mientkiewicz the best possible chance to get another job. He was a candidate for the vacant manager position with the Twins in 2015, before the organization ultimately hired Paul Molitor to replace long-time skipper Ron Gardenhire. That hiring process took place under former GM Terry Ryan, and this firing is on the watch of CBO Derek Falvey.

13

Twins starter J.O. Berrios unfazed as his workload crosses into uncharted territory Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | September 15, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — Two summers ago in 2015 when Minnesota was in a race for the postseason, similar to this year’s club, there was plenty of clamoring from the team’s fan base that the Twins should call up young ace-in-waiting J.O. Berrios for the stretch run. Terry Ryan, then the general manager and now a high-level scout for the Phillies, wouldn’t have it. He decided to shut down Berrios at roughly 166 innings, citing concern that his lean frame might not up if it kept pushing past that new high-water mark.

As you can imagine, there were cries that the Twins were wasting a competitive season–that they were trying to skirt the service time rules and keep Berrios in the organization for a year long by keeping him in the minor leagues at the time. A rocky 2016 season pretty much muted those cries, but it also meant Berrios hardly increased his innings load.

He’s been one of the Twins’ best pitchers this season, at age 23, and his innings have crept higher than they ever have before. He’s pitched past 175 innings for the first time in his pro career, and it has the Twins alert. Paul Molitor said that they’re cutting down the amount of working out that Berrios, a notorious gym rat, does between starts. And he threw a shortened bullpen before his latest start in an effort to stay fresh down the stretch.

“You want to make sure he feels good enough to pitch,” Molitor said. “He says he feels great. He’ll tell you, his arm doesn’t feel as good as it did in April. … If there was anything that was kind of nagging or felt it on his flat-ground [bullpen session] the other day—we’re cutting down all these guys throwing in between starts [as] best we can to try to protect them.”

There was even some thought given to letting Berrios have an extra day of rest — 5 instead of 4 — before his latest start. He told the Twins that he feels fine and that he’d rather pitch on his regular day so that he can stay on schedule to face the Yankees, in one of the more important games the rest of the way.

He said that his goal each year is to get to 200 innings. He’ll have three more starts to get 25 innings, which would be a tall task. But if the Twins make it to the American League Division Series, he could have a chance to hit that mark, and also to pitch in a critically important game. He got a taste of that pitching for Puerto Rico in the this spring. Here’s the percentage increase of his workload for Berrios every year since the Twins drafted him in the supplemental round of the 2012 MLB Draft (The Byron Buxton Draft).

There’s a rule of thumb in baseball — The Verducci Effect, named after its creator, the writer and broadcaster Tom Verducci — that says young players are getting into dangerous territory with a significant increase in his workload, like 30 innings more than the previous year.

It’s mostly been debunked, even if it hangs around as conventional wisdom in some circles. For one thing, there are a bunch of factors that aren’t considered when you’re just talking about counting up innings. What’s a guy’s physique? How many “miles” does he have on his arm? Did he have wear and tear before the season? Did he have a previous injury? Were his innings high-stress? What’s his workout routine like? Does he protect his arm and take care of it between starts? Will he get lucky/unlucky with a fluke accident that couldn’t have been prevented?

Anyway, I asked Molitor is he’s concerned about the amount of increase that Berrios is currently tracking toward. He said as an organization, the Twins are aware of his numbers getting up there, but they’re not outright concerned about it. They haven’t, to my knowledge, put a hard innings limit on the young righty.

“No, I talked to Derek [Falvey] about those calculations in the past and he’s kind of found — he’s as much of a pitching expert as anybody — it’s so individualized,” Molitor said. “You can try to generalize. A lot depends on the person and how they throw and how they take care of themselves, all those type of things. I think we’re all comfortable that he’s going to be fine.”

And with a 3.84 ERA in 136 big league innings this year, not to mention a 128:42 strikeout-to-walk ratio, it’s been the kind of redemptive year the Twins probably were hoping to see from Berrios.

“His body of work has been really good. The development, the confidence, and learning how to pitch when he doesn’t have his best stuff. Learning how to minimize damage and stay away from big innings. There’s a lot of things we’ve seen progress in. … He takes tremendous care of himself,” Molitor said. “I think on a given day he knows he may have to go out there and rely on his pitch-ability rather than trying to overpower people. But then you have those days where it feels fresh and you can go ahead and let it fly,” he said.

If the Twins are going to make it to the postseason — or advance once they get there — Berrios figures to be an important part of it. 14

Twins come up 1 run short in loss to Blue Jays Associated Press | September 16, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS — Bartolo Colon has given the a strong effort since he joined the team two months ago.

Kevin Pillar, Josh Donaldson and the Toronto Blue Jays overpowered Big Sexy on his big night Friday.

Pillar homered, Donaldson went deep and drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning with an infield single that ricocheted off reliever Ryan Pressly , and the Blue Jays beat the Twins 4-3 to slow their push toward the postseason.

The Twins had a three-game lead over the for the second AL wild card going into the night, with the 3 1/2 games back. The New York Yankees hold the first wild card with a four-game edge on the Twins.

Colon (4-5 in the AL, 6-13 overall) did his best to get the Blue Jays to hit catchable balls, but the 44-year-old faltered after four scoreless innings. Pillar hit his homer in fifth. Then Donaldson went deep in the sixth .

“I was a little upset. He beat me on the first pitch I saw. I was looking fastball in, and somehow he beat me. The second time around, I got him,” Pillar said. “It was probably further inside, but I just committed to my plan and picked one side of the plate. He’s a guy who throws a lot of strikes, and you know what he’s throwing. It can be as simple as just looking in or away. Today, I decided to look in.”

Colon got RBIs from Joe Mauer and Chris Gimenez and a homer from Brian Dozier, but it wasn’t enough on “Big Sexy Night .” The Twins had souvenir T-shirts for fans who bought a special ticket package in honor of the burly right-hander, who has more than held his own despite his decreased velocity with a 4.80 ERA in 12 starts.

The big-swinging Blue Jays consistently made solid contact, though, with 12 out of 18 flyball outs.

Pillar walked to lead off the seventh, and an RBI double by Russell Martin prompted manager Paul Molitor to pull Colon for Pressly.

“I think that every team kind of gets an inning where they score some runs,” Colon said through an interpreter, “and that was their inning.”

Donaldson’s two-out, two-strike smash struck Pressly’s right ankle before pin-balling toward Jorge Polanco, who had no play.

“I know Dozier’s playing right behind me,” Pressly said. “Just chalk it up to some bad luck.”

Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ (9-10) also went into the seventh inning, with slightly better results. He struck out five and won his third straight turn.

OSUNA RETURNS

The Twins won in the 10th inning on Thursday night with a walk-off home run by Byron Buxton , but there was no end-of-game drama this time. Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 36th save in 46 opportunities, his first appearance in 10 days after going on paternity leave this week, as the hundreds of boisterous Blue Jays fans from the central Canadian provinces walked out happy despite their team being buried in the standings this season.

“He was popping pretty good tonight,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s had a big week.”

THIEVING BUXTON

Buxton had two hits, including a bunt single in the fourth inning. He then stole second base and scored on Gimenez’s two-out single. With 21 consecutive successful steals, Buxton’s streak is tied with Zoilo Versalles for the third-longest in Twins history. Chuck Knoblauch and Matt Lawton each swiped 22 in a row.

TORMENTING THE TWINS

In 38 career games against the Twins, Donaldson is batting .375 with 16 doubles, 15 homers and 41 RBIs. Donaldson’s on-base-plus-, at 1.239 entering the night, is the highest by any opposing player in Twins history including the franchise’s previous incarnation as the Washington Senators.

15

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: Martin was back in the lineup as the catcher, after a day off out of precaution for his previously strained left oblique muscle. This was the first time Happ pitched to him in more than a month. “We’re pretty comfortable with each other. It’s nice to see him back there. I told him that,” Happ said.

Twins: RHP Jose Berrios, a noted fitness fanatic, has been encouraged by the team to shorten his bullpen session and back off his work a bit between starts. Berrios has pitched 175 2/3 innings this season, including 136 for the Twins. “I think it’s more general fatigue than it is arm,” Molitor said.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: LHP Marco Estrada (8-8, 4.96 ERA) takes the mound on Saturday night. He’s 4-1 in his last 10 starts, with three runs or less allowed in eight turns.

Twins: LHP Adalberto Mejia (4-5, 4.47 ERA) returns to the rotation to pitch the third game of the series. The rookie missed more than a month with an upper arm strain, with his last start coming on Aug. 8.

Playoff paths for teams on the bubble Travis Sawchik |ESPN| September 15, 2017

Major League Baseball's second wild card has worked exactly as intended. The fifth playoff berth in each league has made winning divisions more meaningful while keeping more teams within range of October baseball. (In addition to adding compelling, made-for-TV play-in games.)

Manufacturing postseason races is important this September, with perhaps four divisions already decided and the top two teams in a fifth, the AL East, looking like near-locks for postseason berths. The Indians' historic winning streak has put them on the cusp of clinching the AL Central while moving ahead of the Astros for the AL's No. 1 seed. The Astros are going to win the AL West. In the AL East, the Red Sox hold a three-game lead over the Yankees, and New York has a three-game lead for the No. 1 wild card.

In the , the Dodgers still have the league's best mark by five games despite their struggles. The Nationals have run away with the NL East, having already clinched a postseason spot. The Diamondbacks have a sizable lead for the first NL wild card.

Despite these locks or near locks, the second wild card -- and the mediocrity-stricken NL Central -- are keeping a number of teams within plausible striking distance of the postseason. With two-and-a-half weeks to play, what do the sport's bubble teams need to do to reach the playoffs?

Minnesota Twins FanGraphs wild-card playoff odds: 71.3 percent

Getting Miguel Sano back on the field would help Minnesota create some separation. Sano is one of the game's top power threats, posting a 125 wRC+ this season, but he hasn't played since Aug. 19 due to a stress reaction in his shin. He has begun to hit and do some running, but no timetable for his return has been announced. The Twins need Byron Buxton to continue to hit in addition to providing his otherworldly defense in center, which has helped the Twins rank seventh in team defensive runs saved (plus-24), a dramatic turnaround from a year ago when the Twins ranked 28th (minus-49). It is hidden value from their defense that has helped keep the Twins in contention. Where the Twins need the most help is in the rotation. They need more bat-missing ability as Twins starting pitchers rank 27th in strikeout rate (17.8 percent). They picked up Bartolo Colon to fill innings, but they need Kyle Gibson to continue his productive work, and one wonders whether left-handed pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves could have helped this summer or in September. The Twins lead the second wild card despite a modest run differential (just plus-9), suggesting both some overachievement and vulnerability. What will help the Twin is the second-easiest remaining schedule, with their remaining opponents posting just a .480 winning percentage.

16

Twins fire minor-league manager as he cleans up after Hurricane Irma Arthur Weinstein | Sporting News | September 15, 2017

Remember Doug Mientkiewicz? The first baseman spent 12 years in the majors, seven of those with the Twins, winning a Gold Glove with the team in 2001. Most recently, Mientkiewicz managed the Twins' Single-A Fort Myers Miracle, until the team fired him Friday. Nothing noteworthy here on the surface. Teams shake up their minor-league personnel all the time.

But the timing of his termination surprised Mientkiewicz, and it doesn't cast the Twins organization in the best light. Mientkiewicz says he got the news by phone Friday as he dealt with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Irma at his home in the Florida Keys.

"My cellphone was out for several days, and then I got a call (Friday) … I'm out here working my rear end off, dealing with remnants of the hurricane, and they call to tell me I'm fired," Mientkiewicz told the StarTribune.com. "You think they will ever do something professional as an organization?"

That phone call got even more awkward, as Mientkiewicz tells the story. He got the news from Brad Steil, the Twins’ director of minor league operations, who is being promoted by the organization. Mientkiewicz says he congratulated Steil on his promotion, “and he said, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you,’ Then he said, ‘We’ve been going through the coaching staffs here, and we’ve decided not to bring you back.’”

Mientkiewicz admitted he knew "changes were taking place." Still, the timing of his termination could have been better. Twins GM Thad Levine told the Star Tribune he made the move with Mientkiewicz's interests in mind.

“Changes are being made, and we have worked very closely with our senior leadership team and departments to determine the best course of action for the future,” Levine said. “Our hope and goal is to do so in a timely fashion, so that people who are not being retained have 100 percent access to job openings that may occur around the industry.”

Levine: Gibson "Has Established Himself" As Part Of Twins' Pitching Equation Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors| September 15, 2017

Though right-hander Kyle Gibson at one point looked like a clear non-tender candidate for the Twins this offseason, his revitalized performance in the season’s second half makes it look far likelier that he’ll return. The 29-year-old former first-rounder limped to a ghastly 6.29 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate through the season’s first half and was even optioned to Triple-A Rochester back in May. However, he’s logged a brilliant 2.83 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent grounder rate in 54 innings across his past nine outings.

Asked by 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson on his latest podcast if Gibson would be tendered a contract this winter (audio link, with Levine joining around the 27-minute mark and discussing Gibson at 37 minutes), Levine replied: “Starting pitching — and quality starting pitching — is at a premium. … Depth is tantamount. We are aspirational of being a playoff-relevant team moving forward. Those types of teams need to have a wealth of starting pitching options, and I think Kyle Gibson has established himself as very much a part of that equation moving forward for the Minnesota Twins.” Gibson is earning $2.9MM in 2017, and while there’s still of course time for things to change, it sounds like he’ll be retained and earn a slight raise on that figure for the 2018 campaign.

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