Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, June 23, 2017 Soggy Day All
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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, June 23, 2017 Soggy day all around as Twins wait out long delay and lose 9-0 to White Sox. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Two more Class AAA pitchers called up by Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 2 Postgame: Turley learned the hard way about falling behind hitters. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Fans who had Thursday tickets get free tickets to future Twins game. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 4 Twins-Cleveland series preview. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 4 Twins roughed up by White Sox, lose 9-0. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 5 For Twins players, doubleheaders just the ticket for ‘a little kumbaya’. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 6 After record delay, Twins blanked by White Sox. MLB (Jackson & Mason) p. 7 Turley optioned after another rough outing. MLB (Jackson) p. 8 Twins, Mejia eye redemption against Tribe. MLB (Jackson) p. 8 Why are the Twins so much worse when they play at home? ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 9 Preview: Twins at Indians. (Associated Press) p. 10 Catcher Gimenez takes the mound again as Twins fall to White Sox .(Associated Press) p. 11 Twins’ Park bounces back at the plate with five multi-hit games. FOX Sports (Dierberger) p. 12 Athens Christian grad Alan Busenitz makes MLB debut for Minnesota Twins. OnlineAthens (Caldwell) p. 14 West Fargo Woman Celebrating More than a Century of Loving Baseball and the Minnesota Twins. KVRR (Cohen) p. 15 How Many Baseball Fans Must Be Maimed Before MLB Parks Extend Their Netting? Houston Press (Royal) p. 16 Soggy day all around as Twins wait out long delay and lose 9-0 to White Sox Phil Miller | Star Tribune | June 23, 2017 Some 5,000 Target Field customers waited almost five hours Thursday to watch a game that was over in about 20 minutes. Rookie lefthander Nik Turley, his third major league start delayed all afternoon by a steady summer shower, made a brief, and perhaps final, appearance on the mound for the Twins. Six of the eight Chicago batters Turley faced racked up hits, two of them smashed long home runs, and the Twins went quietly after that, closing their 11-game homestand with a 9-0 loss. The Twins now embark on a difficult 11-game road trip, but Turley won’t be with them, having been optioned back to Class AAA Rochester after the shutout loss — Minnesota’s first of the season — finally ended. “He got a chance to learn up here. He fought his way up here and went through a lot,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said after Turley’s ERA ballooned to 16.39. “Hopefully he’s learned and keeps himself on the radar. As we all know, our starting depth is in need of people that keep themselves in the mix.” They need people who throw strikes, too, an ability that has eluded Turley in each of his three starts. On Thursday, Turley fell behind each of the first five hitters he faced, and four of them took advantage by smashing hits all over the park — two of them out of it. Jose Abreu crushed an 0-1 fastball five rows deep into the left-field bleachers, Avisail Garcia followed with a double into the corner, and Todd Frazier launched a 3-2 fastball into the White Sox bullpen, staking Chicago to a 4-0 lead before hecklers had even warmed up. Turley faced three more batters, two of whom singled, and his very-long-yet-very-short day was over after 33 pitches. “Getting behind all the time didn’t allow him to use his curveball very much,” Molitor said. Turley didn’t throw a curve, in fact, until facing Matt Davidson, six batters in, “which was kind of surprising to everybody,” the manager added. “It just got out of hand. I wanted to try to get him through, because I needed some innings, but when it got to [4-0], I tried to stop the bleeding.” Five other Twins pitchers took their turns facing the White Sox, the last of them catcher Chris Gimenez, who made his sixth appearance on the mound this season. Depending on how you define “position player” — excluding some players, such as ex-Cardinal Rick Ankiel, who switched positions midcareer — that might be the most such emergency outings in major league history, and certainly since the 1940s. Turley goes down in Twins history, too; his first three career starts, since being called up June 11, have totaled 9⅓ innings, and included 17 runs allowed on 23 hits. His 16.39 ERA is the second-worst ever by a Minnesota pitcher in his first three career starts, topped only by Pete Filson’s 17.47 mark in 1982. Buddy Boshers allowed two runs in two innings, and Craig Breslow two in 2⅔ as well, but it hardly mattered with Jose Quintana on the mound. The Chicago lefthander shut out the Twins on only five hits over 6⅔ innings, striking out nine while issuing no walks. “He knows how to use a lead. His changeup was really good, we had trouble picking it up all day. His curveball was there, too,” Molitor said of Quintana. “He got them deep in the game, protected their bullpen after they were overused the last couple days. He did what a veteran, polished starter will do.” Two more Class AAA pitchers called up by Twins Phil Miller | Star Tribune | June 23, 2017 Their need for pitching growing desperate yet again, the Twins are looking inside their organization and out for new potential solutions. This weekend’s newcomers: Rochester closer Trevor Hildenberger, a former 22nd-round draft pick, and Dillon Gee, a longtime Met who was released by the Rangers earlier this week. According to sources familiar with the transactions, those two righthanders will be added to the Twins’ roster Friday in Cleveland, though moves to clear space on the 40-man roster remain unclear. Nik Turley was sent to Rochester after Thursday's loss and Ehire Adrianza was placed on the 10-day disabled list. Gee, 31, spent six seasons in the Mets’ rotation, and posted a 4.03 ERA with the NL team. He hasn’t pitched particularly well in a couple of seasons, turning in a 4.68 ERA last year with the Royals, and spending a month in the minors this season before joining Texas. “He’s in the mix” to fill in on the pitching staff that will be updated Friday, Twins manager Paul Molitor said, a move that was later confirmed. “We’re trying to figure out what’s best in terms of protecting us. We just need to have some protection for innings. So him being a guy who has that potential, we have to consider whether we want to do that in the short term or just let him get some work down there and see where he’s at.” Adrianza, who stole three bases Wednesday, was placed on the disabled list because of an abdominal issue, the Twins announced. Adrianza underwent tests and will have more done while the Twins are away. “Hopefully, everything gets cleaned up and do what we need to as far as treating whatever’s going on there,” Molitor said. Hildenberger, a sidearm pitcher who has saved six games for the Red Wings — three in the past week — has a 2.05 ERA in 21 games this year, striking out 35 with only eight walks in 30⅔ innings. He has held righthanded hitters to a .208 average in Class AAA, and has recorded double- digit saves in each of his three previous professional seasons. Lefthander Hector Santiago (shoulder) will also join the team this weekend, after pitching three innings in a rehab start Wednesday, but will not be activated from the disabled list until next week. Deals are struck The Twins have reached contract agreements with 10 of their first 12 picks in last week’s draft, with only a pair of high school pitchers and a Puerto Rican outfielder still unsigned among the top dozen, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Landon Leach, the first pick in the second round from Pickering High in suburban Toronto, and Blayne Enlow, from St. Amant (La.) High, taken one round later, are still working out contract details, with Enlow expected to be in the fold on Friday. Outfielder Gabriel Rodriguez from Adela Rolon Fuentes High near San Juan, Puerto Rico, the first player taken on the draft’s third day, also remains unsigned. 2 High school seniors taken in the early rounds often require above-slot bonuses to convince them to forgo college, and Leach and Enlow are expected to receive more than their designated bonuses. Similarly, fifth-round pick Andrew Bechtold, a third base prospect and redshirt sophomore from Chipola College in Florida, agreed to a deal worth $600,000, well above the $378,700 targeted for that pick, rather than return to school. The Twins — who also signed 12th-round righthander Bailey Ober from the College of Charleston (S.C.) on Thursday — can offer more and still stay within MLB draft limits, because of the money saved by signing first-round pick Royce Lewis to a contract worth $1 million less than the $7.7 million target for his bonus. Patience rewarded The Twins waited nearly five hours for a break in Thursday’s afternoon showers but were able to start the game at 5 p.m. under bright sunshine. They haven’t always been able to do that. The official delay of 4 hours, 50 minutes is a Minnesota record, and an example of how modern drainage technology at Target Field allows the grass to absorb even a daylong rain and still be playable.