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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, April 8, 2017 Miguel Sano starts at first base, Twins win series opener 3-1 over White Sox. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Twins notes: Brian Dozier has done his homework and is ready to run more. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2 Miguel Sano gets a tutorial at first base; Buxton still contributing. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Minnesota Twins improve to 4-0 behind Phil Hughes, Miguel Sano. Pioneer Press (Bernardino ) p. 4 Minnesota Twins give Miguel Sano his first career start at first base. Pioneer Press (Bernardino ) p. 5 Twins’ Brandon Kintzler: From Vegas Yard Dawg to big-league closer. Pioneer Press (Bernardino) p. 6 Twins relievers aim to bond over road dinners. MLB (Bollinger) p. 8 Leather goods: Twins outfield comes up big. MLB (Bollinger) p. 9 Rhett Bollinger and Scott Merkin. MLB (Rhett Bollinger and Scott Merkin) p. 10 Are batters guessing more? Twins’ Paul Molitor says yes. Pioneer Press (Shipley) p. 10 Twins get key hits, outs to sweep Royals. MLB (Bollinger) p. 11 Castro states case with decisive knock. MLB (Bollinger) p. 12 Hughes ready to face Holland, White Sox. MLB (Bollinger) p. 13 Haley arrives on scene with dad still en route. MLB (Bollinger) p. 13 Twins edge White Sox, move to 4-0 for first time since 1987. Fox Sports p. 11 Miguel Sano starts at first base, Twins win series opener 3-1 over White Sox Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 7, 2017 CHICAGO – Byron Buxton struck out all four times he came to the plate Friday night. He also might be the reason the Twins are off to their best start in three decades. The slumping outfielder tracked down a pair of near-certain extra-base hits at the base of the center-field wall during Phil Hughes’ shaky first inning, turning a possible four- or five-run inning into one harmless run, and the Twins came back to earn a 3-1 victory over the White Sox. The victory improved the opportunistic Twins to 4-0 for the first time since 1987. Yeah, that season ended in a dogpile in the Metrodome, but let’s not get too crazy. For now, the Twins, coming off a record 103 losses last season, are just enjoying their unexpected stretch of timely hitting, strong pitching — and especially that stellar outfield defense. “We might have won it with defense in the first inning, particularly [by] our center fielder,” manager Paul Molitor said after the Twins won their first road game of the season for the first time since 2009. “It’s hard to imagine [Buxton] almost outran a ball that got to the wall very quickly.” It’s pretty easy to imagine what might have happened if he hadn’t. Hughes, pitching for the first time since an inning-ending knee fracture last June, gave up three singles and two 400-foot blasts to the first six batters he faced. What might have been a disaster instead turned into a tidy one-run inning, because Buxton raced back 75 feet to make warning-track catches both times. “Once I took off, I put my head down, and kind of lost the ball,” Buxton said. “When I looked back up, I saw it out of my peripheral [vision]. … Pretty tough catches, but right now I’ve got to do what I’ve got to to help us out. I ain’t swinging the bat so good, so I have to take as many hits away as I can to help us out until I get back my swing.” Buxton is off to a 1-for-18 start with a major league-leading 11 strikeouts, but there aren’t any pitchers on the Twins staff who would complain. “He’s great. If you keep the ball in the yard somehow, he’ll track it down,” said Hughes, who collected his first victory since last April 18. “That was a game-saver in the first. That was probably the turning point there, and fortunately I was able to settle in and make some pitches.” Buxton wasn’t the only one, either. Eddie Rosario jumped at the wall to make a difficult catch in the left-field corner, and Max Kepler dove for a run-saving catch at the foul line to end the fifth inning. Thanks to the defense, Hughes lasted six innings and retired 13 of the final 14 hitters he faced. The Twins weren’t sure what to expect, but Hughes put to rest any doubts about his recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome. “It seemed like things got easier as I went along,” he said. Things are pretty easy for Miguel Sano these days, too — even a new position. The third baseman made his first career start at first base, and while it was new to him, he was Same-Ol’-Miguel at the plate. With the score tied in the sixth inning, Sano won an epic at-bat against White Sox starter Derek Holland, fouling off five pitches before crushing a 3-2 delivery to the wall in right-centerfield, a blast that scored Robbie Grossman from first base with the go-ahead, and ultimately game- winning, run. “He threw me a lot of breaking balls. I was trying to be ready for a fastball,” Sano said. “He finally throws me a fastball inside, and I was way out ahead and hit it foul. He throws me another fastball, and I stayed on it.” “It was a great at-bat,” Molitor said. “Miggy’s at-bat was a huge at-bat in the game, just to foul off as many pitches as he did. He stayed on that ball 3-2 and used the whole field.” Twins notes: Brian Dozier has done his homework and is ready to run more Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 7, 2017 CHICAGO – Brian Dozier successfully stole 18 bases last year in 20 attempts. He was safe in his last 10 thefts of the season. And he went home … unsatisfied. “Every year, especially the past couple, I always look back and [say], ‘Why haven’t I done more on the base paths?” the Twins leadoff hitter said Friday. “I kind of want to take it to another level.” So far, that level is one a game, at least in the first three. Dozier swiped a pair of bases Wednesday, then another one Thursday, all off Royals Gold Glove catcher Salvador Perez. Wait, that’s not right, Dozier corrected. “You don’t steal bases off a catcher, you steal them off the pitcher,” he said. And that’s his secret, Dozier said. He spent spring training testing slightly longer leads, and he’s doing more homework on each pitcher he may stare at from first base. “Everything I do is calculated. It’s not just go to be stealing. I know the times of every single pitcher, and I know when I can’t make it,” he said. “I’m not going to give away that I’m going to be stealing every time. But for the most part, I’m going to try to be more aggressive.” That’s OK with manager Paul Molitor, who has essentially given Dozier — who has now successfully stolen second base 13 consecutive times — permission to run whenever he likes. “He was really aggressive this spring. I think he was trying to prove he could still lead off,” Molitor joked. “He’s not our fastest guy, but he’s more adept than anybody else at knowing what he can do, knowing how to find an edge, and picking the right time to go. Good judgment, good instincts, good breaks.” New bullpen tradition Dinner was over and the check had come. Pitchers in the Twins bullpen put their credit cards into the middle and had the waiter draw one out. But there was a problem. The waiter came back moments later and told Taylor Rogers … what exactly? “I have no comment on that,” Rogers said Friday, trying not to laugh. Yes, the Twins pulled a prank on their young lefthander Thursday, convincing the steakhouse waiter to present Rogers with a comically inflated bill of several thousand dollars and the news that his card had been declined. It wasn’t until he called his bank to try to raise his limit, another 2 pitcher said, that they let him know it was all a joke. Welcome to the bullpen dinner, a new tradition Twins relievers intend to conduct in every city on every road trip this season. “This bullpen is a really tight-knit group. We like being around each other. It’s going to be a fun year, and we just want to keep picking each other up,” said Ryan Pressly, in his fifth season with the Twins. “We’re kind of caged out there together, so you’d better get comfortable being around each other. We want this to be a family.” Twins relievers went to dinner a couple times last year, but with the addition of veterans Matt Belisle and Craig Breslow this year, and the emergence of Brandon Kintzler as the closer, there are leaders who see the benefits of functioning as a unit. “The camaraderie you feel out there, it helps everyone,” Rogers said. “We’re all rooting for each other.” Well, until the check comes. Castro’s night off Molitor chose to bench one of his hottest hitters Friday, giving catcher Jason Castro the night off while Chris Gimenez caught Phil Hughes. Part of the reason was that Chicago had lefthander Derek Holland on the mound, but partly it was because Molitor doesn’t want to put too much stock in three games.

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