Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, August 11, 2017

 Twins hit a season high with fifth win in a row. Star Tribune (Neal III) p. 1  Phil Hughes has second surgery. Star Tribune (Neal III) p. 2  Thoughts on Dietrich Enns and his chances of getting another start. Star Tribune (Neal III) p. 3  Twins fire Wayne Krivsky, a former front office executive. Star Tribune (Neal III) p. 3  Twins thrash Brewers 7-2 for season-high fifth straight win. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 4  Twins catching prospect Ben Rortvedt impressing big-league coach. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5  Twins go over .500 with 5th straight victory. MLB (McCalvy & Gruman) p.6  Polanco finds stroke at plate in August. MLB (Gruman) p. 8  Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: 5 things to note from rookie Dietrich Enns’ MLB debut with the Twins. 1500 ESPN (Wetmore) p. 8  Twins take fifth straight, sweeping Brewers in home-and-home. Associated Press p. 10  MN Ballpark Authority Receives Praise for Target Field Suite Policy. ABC Eyewitness News p. 11

Twins hit a season high with fifth win in a row La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | August 1, 2017

MILWAUKEE – It’s coming from everyone, now. From rookie relievers to shortstops who had lost their starting jobs to the bottom of the batting order.

The Twins are on roll, with their tread marks all over the Brewers after their 7-2 victory on Thursday gave them wins in both games at Miller Park and all four games this week against their interleague rivals. And they have finally ended the win-four-lose-four deviation that has marked their season, as they now have won five straight games for the first time.

“We’re playing good,” said , whose slump landed him on the bench recently but who was 2-for-4 on Thursday and is a sizzling 14- for-28 during his eight-game hitting streak. “We have a chemistry. We’re playing well. We want to win. All of that put together is why we are playing so well.”

The Twins are a half-game out for the second AL wild-card spot — but half the league feels it has a shot there. What Thursday’s game also did was move them into second place in the AL Central, 3½ games behind Cleveland.

They have a weekend series in Detroit that they can use to gain even more momentum before the Indians come to town next Tuesday.

“We’re energized,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “You could feel it. I think these guys are enjoying kind of an underdog role here, and we have been able to put together a little run here.

“Now we go to Detroit, to a team that has been tough on us this year and last year. So we’ve got a chance to turn that tide around.”

Only one of the Twins’ 12 hits Thursday went for extra bases, but they bunched them to score three runs in both the second and third innings to take control early. In addition to Polanco, and Joe Mauer each had three hits.

The Twins have been spoiled over the past week by complete games from Ervin Santana and Bartolo Colon. But when lefthander Dietrich Enns was lifted in the third inning of his major league debut, righthanders Alan Busenitz and Ryan Pressly combined for 4⅔ scoreless innings to reach the eighth. Righthander and lefthander Buddy Boshers finished up. Busenitz got the win, his first in the majors.

“There’s a lot of ways to get it done,” Molitor said. “I think that adds to the confidence, collectively.”

Four straight hits and an error in the second allowed the Twins to take a 3-0 lead. Buxton and Polanco each had RBI singles, and a run scored when Travis Shaw misplayed Jason Castro’s grounder.

Keon Broxton homered off Enns in the second, but the Twins scored three more times in the third on sacrifice flies by Eddie Rosario and Castro sandwiched around another Buxton RBI single. The Twins led 6-1, a nice cushion for the newcomer.

Enns, however, loaded the bases in the third, which started with him pulling Mauer off the bag with a high throw that allowed Orlando Arcia to reach. Three batters later, Enns walked in a run and was lifted.

“That was terrible,” Enns said. “The ball just sailed on me. I make the play all the time.”

No problem on Thursday, because the Twins are picking each other up these days.

Polanco knows they are clicking, although he’s not sure about playing up the underdog angle.

“People talk. It is what it is,” he said. “We don’t see it that way. We are just going to go out there and try to win every day.”

Phil Hughes has second surgery La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | August 11, 2017

MILWAUKEE – Righthander Phil Hughes on Thursday underwent thoracic outlet revision surgery.

That’s right, Hughes had to have a second surgery after the initial one last year did not solve the problem. Hughes ended up on the disabled list twice this season and had a series of tests in the Twin Cities and at the May Clinic in Rochester to see if there was another problem. But the same condition was diagnosed.

Hughes will try to be ready for 2018. He was 4-3 with a 5.87 ERA in 14 games this season, including nine starts.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Greg Pearl in Dallas.

Belisle watch

Twins manager Paul Molitor was asked about Matt Belisle’s availability before Thursday’s game, since he had appeared in three of the previous four games.

“It’s probably somewhat unlikely,” Molitor said. “I wouldn’t say it is an absolute.”

Molitor knows he’s got to be careful with the 37-year-old, who has gotten most of the ninth-inning work since Brandon Kintzler was traded to Washington on July 31. Before the trade, the Twins tried to give Belisle an extra day off whenever he threw more than 20 pitches.

So Molitor’s latest challenge is to get the most out of Belisle while not ruining his effectiveness.

Perkins pitches

Glen Perkins, in his first appearance for Class AA Chattanooga, gave up one hit in one scoreless inning of work. He faced four batters and threw 11 pitches, eight for strikes.

Perkins will make at least one more appearance, possibly on Friday to prove he can pitch in back-to-back games, before the Twins will consider bringing him up. It has been 17 months since Perkins has pitched in a major league game because of a torn labrum.

Thoughts on Dietrich Enns and his chances of getting another start La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | August 11, 2017

Dietrich Enns should get another start for the Twins. When is the question. Since the Twins have an off day on Monday, they won't a fifth starter for awhile. Next Saturday, to be exact.

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"We're going to figure out how we are going to proceed as far as his situation is concerned," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We have some options. Will probably sleep on it and see what we come up with tomorrow."

Enns was charged with one earned run over 2 1/3 innings on Thursday. He was lifted after walking in a run in the third - which shows you that Molitor is managing to win. (They're kinda close and his contract is up).

But Enns showed a low 90's fastball and a good change up that came in around 80-82. That variance could play in the majors. But he's going to have to sharpen his control.

"Just go after guys," he said. "Hitters will take advantage of mistakes over the plate, so just make sure when I get ahead I can put guys away."

Enns showed one good trait, his proclivity to throw strike one. He started off 13 of the 14 batters he faced with a first pitch strike, which can make things easier for a debutant. It should work for him until hitters become aggressive against him early in in the count. But for a lefty unfamiliar to the Brewers, it worked on Thursday.

But he has to work on putting hitters away. He stranded one runner on base in the first inning, then two in the second. And it continued into the third, which ended up being his last inning.

And it was his undoing. He fielded Orlando Arcia's swinging bunt but his high throw pulled Joe Mauer off the bag for an error.

"It was unfortunate he didn't get a good grip on that throw to first base," Molitor said. "It changed how that inning unfolded."

Ryan Braun hit the next pitch for a single, then Travis Shaw dropped a single in front of Eddie Rosario in left to load the bases. And then Enns fell behind Jesus Aguilar 2-0, the only batter he didn't throw strike one to. Enns came back to even the count at 2-2. But, one the eighth pitch of the at bat, Enns missed inside with a fastball, forcing in a run that made it 6-2.

Molitor didn't waste time, he removed Enns for Alan Busenitz, who got Manny Pina to hit into a double play to end the inning. Enns threw 53 pitches, 37 for strikes, which should get him another start.

Even when Adalberto Mejia is ready to come off the DL, the Twins will have him make a couple rehab starts. Enns could hang around for a couple weeks. Then it will be September, when rosters can expand. It was good timing for Enns to be called up with the Twins in Milwaukee. He's from the Chicago suburbs (yes, he's a Bears fan), and there were about 25 friends and family at Miller Park on Thursday - that he knew of.

Maybe their next trip will be to Target Field.

Twins fire Wayne Krivsky, a former front office executive La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | August 10, 2017

The organizational shake-up continues at 1 Twins Way.

The Twins on Thursday fired professional scout Wayne Krivsky, who held various roles with the club and was one of their key decision-makers before the new regime of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over late last year.

Another pro scout, Greg Orr, also was let go. He had just joined the Twins in January after leaving the Yankees.

Krivsky spent this season as a pro scout but previously had served as a special assistant to General Manager Terry Ryan. Throughout his time with the Twins, he was one of Ryan’s closest confidants. Ryan was fired during the 2016 season and currently is a scout for the Phillies.

Krivsky joined the Twins in 1999 after spending 10 years with Texas. In February 2006 he was named general manager of the . He got off to a promising start, dealing the underwhelming Wily Mo Pena for , then a player to be named later — Jeff Stevens — to Cleveland for , but was replaced by in 2008.

He worked for the Mets and the Orioles before returning to the Twins in 2011 to be one of Ryan’s special assistants. When Falvey and Levine took over, Krivsky was no longer part of the inner circle.

The moves mean the Twins will be busy this offseason searching for replacements. The period from August through November is an important 3 time of year for movement within the industry. And the Twins are making it known that they have positions available.

Indications are that the Twins will think outside the box and consider adding some people who currently are not involved in .

Twins thrash Brewers 7-2 for season-high fifth straight win Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | August 11, 2017

MILWAUKEE — It all ended too soon for rookie left-hander Dietrich Enns, knocked out in the third inning of his big-league debut Thursday night at Miller Park.

Yet there appears to be no end in sight to this surprising Twins surge back into postseason contention.

Pounding out 12 hits, three apiece by Joe Mauer and Byron Buxton, the Twins rolled to their season-best fifth straight win, 7-2 over the fading . That pushed them back over .500 (57-56) for the first time since July 23 and moved them back into second place in the American League Central for the first time since July 20.

They are 3 1/2 games behind the first-place .

“We want to go back to first place,” Twins third baseman Miguel Sano said after scoring two runs and hustling to tag up on a third-inning fly to center. “That’s what we’re looking for. Everybody is working hard, playing hard and trying to do the best they can so we can make the playoffs.”

In sweeping the home-and-home interleague series with their neighbors, the Twins blanked the Brewers for only the second time since 2000. The other time came in 2013.

“We’ve done a nice job of looking ahead and not backward for the majority of the year,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “We all know the bottleneck that the wild-card is right now. You can’t get too wrapped up in one day or three days. You just have to keep pushing each and every day.”

The Twins have done just that, even after the front office seemingly waved the white flag with non-waiver deadline trades of left-hander Jaime Garcia to the and all-star closer Brandon Kintzler to the .

All the Twins have done since the deadline is go 7-3 and give their fans reason to wonder if they might actually go from buyer to seller and back to buyer again.

“That would surprise me for right now,” Molitor said. “We’ll see what happens in the next 21 days.”

At minimum the Twins, facing one of the easiest remaining schedules among AL contenders, seem to have given the front office reason to hit the pause button on any further selling. That means no flipping 37-year-old closer-committee chairman Matt Belisle just yet, and the same goes for 44-year-old reclamation project Bartolo Colon, who has allowed one earned run over his past 12 innings.

“I would think the fact we’ve got ourselves in a better position,” Molitor said, “would slow down any momentum that might have been there in that regard.”

A pair of three-spots in the second and third innings provided plenty of means for Enns to win his debut, but he gave up a two-out solo homer to Keon Broxton in the second and walked in a run after his throwing error and two singles.

With that Molitor popped out of the third-base dugout and yanked Enns, one of two acquired for Garcia, after just 53 pitches and seven outs. Reliever Alan Busenitz came on to record eight outs without a scratch, including a Manny Pina grounder that Sano gobbled up for the first of his two double plays.

Busenitz, a 26-year-old rookie like Enns, was awarded his first career victory as the Brewers fell for the 17th time in 24 games.

At least Enns, whose 25-strong rooting second made the two-hour, 15-minute drive up from Frankfort, Ill., beat out an infield chopper in the third for his first big-league hit. He became the first Twins pitcher with a hit in his big-league debut since Hal Haydel on Sept. 7, 1970, also against the Brewers.

“I couldn’t help but laugh,” Enns said. “Before I got called up I didn’t even realize I was going to have to hit until a couple hours later. I was like, 4

‘Oh, man.’ “

Buxton singled and scored in his first two trips against right-hander Zach Davies (13-6). Buxton also drove in Sano both times, something he had yet to do since breaking in during the 2015 season.

Jorge Polanco added two more hits, pushing his career August average to .358 — he is hitting .229 in all other months — and Mauer stopped a 1-for-20 slide with his first game of three or more hits since June 2.

Somehow the resurgent Twins have made that 2-6 West Coast trip seem very long ago.

“The fact is we’ve been able to bounce back from a fairly difficult West Coast trip, which included some really heartbreaking losses, and pick up the pace,” Molitor said. “That’s what we needed to do to still give ourselves a chance.”

Added Sano: “I don’t think about the wild card. I think about first place. That’s better than the wild card.”

Twins catching prospect Ben Rortvedt impressing big-league coach Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | August 11, 2017

MILWAUKEE — Whenever Twins first-base coach Jeff Smith gets a spare moment on the road, he’ll fire up his laptop and watch video of the organization’s catching prospects.

Smith collaborates with minor-league field coordinator Joel Lepel on defensive development plans for the likes of Class A Cedar Rapids Ben Rortvedt. Smith will send along suggested catching drills once a month or so to Kernels manager and his coaches J.P. Martinez and Brian Dinkelman.

The Twins’ second-round pick in 2016, Rortvedt grew up 90 miles southwest of Miller Park in the Madison, Wis., suburb of Verona. The Twins gave him a $900,000 signing bonus and have been impressed with the way he’s handled himself in the Midwest League at age 19.

“Ben’s going to be a good one,” Smith said. “He’s probably one of the youngest players in that league. There can’t be many younger.”

Hitting just .140 on June 6, Rortvedt went on a month-long tear that saw him hit .379 and lift his average 85 points. The lefty swinger has cooled off since, settling in at .215 with solid 18-percent strikeout rate overall, but it’s what he can do on the defensive side that excites the Twins.

“He receives the ball well; he’s got real soft hands,” said Smith, a former minor-league catcher who has managed as high as Double-A and the Arizona Fall League. “He gives a good target and has made huge strides in his game calling and his ability to work with his pitching coach and his pitchers. Ben can really throw, too.”

His pop times to second are consistently in 2.0-second range, Smith said, with plenty of 1.85s to 1.95s sprinkled in.

Rortvedt shows a fiery personality on the field, but Smith sees nothing wrong with that.

“Love the fire,” Smith said. “It’s not a bad fire. It’s a competitive fire. He’s very competitive on both sides of the plate.”

Most of all, Smith has been pleased to see Rortvedt separate his offensive struggles from his defensive responsibilities.

“That’s the thing I’m most proud of,” Smith said. “That’s a big thing for a young catcher because that’s really hard to do. It’s going to be fun to watch him develop because he really takes a lot of pride in his craft.”

KRIVSKY OUT

The Twins’ scouting overhaul continued Thursday with the dismissals of major league scout Wayne Krivsky and pro scout Greg Orr.

The 63-year-old Krivsky, who spent 17 seasons with the organization dating to 1994, was reassigned from special assistant to the general manager last offseason and his scouting responsibilities had been altered this season under the Twins’ new front-office team.

Formerly GM of the Cincinnati Reds from 2006-08, where current Twins reliever Matt Belisle was a starter at the time, Krivsky played a key role in the acquisition of a number of Twins over the years, including 2017 all-star closer Brandon Kintzler. 5

“He about killed himself trying to get me here,” Kintzler said last season. “He probably would have got fired just to do it. He scouted me and he liked me in 2013 when I was with the Brewers. He let me know about it a long time ago. You always keep that in mind.”

Krivsky returned to the Twins in November 2011 as a special assistant to former GM Terry Ryan, now with the Philadelphia Phillies. Orr, formerly a pro scout with the New York Yankees, was hired in January.

BREWERS BRUSH

If you thought Jaime Garcia’s six-day stay with the Twins was brief, just consider how things went for Ehire Adrianza and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on the last day of January, the super utility man hadn’t even received a single piece of Brewers gear before the Twins grabbed him six days later. Adrianza did receive a nice phone call from Brewers general manager David Stearns, Adrianza said, once he was placed on waivers.

“He said, ‘Hang with it. Don’t worry about it,’ “ Adrianza said. “He told me, ‘If you get through waivers, we’ll bring you to camp as a non-roster player and we still think you can make the team,’ “

Two days later, Adrianza was property of the Twins, who saw significant value in his defensive abilities and were looking to upgrade a spot that had belonged to fellow switch-hitter Danny Santana. Adrianza has made 25 starts for the Twins at four positions and given them 0.4 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

As for the player that bumped Adrianza off the Brewers’ 40-man roster, first baseman Jesus Aguilar has hit 11 homers overall and provided 0.6 WAR.

“He’s having a pretty good year,” Adrianza said.

BRIEFLY

Rehabbing Twins reliever Glen Perkins gave up a two-out single in a scoreless relief inning for Double-A Chattanooga on Thursday in Birmingham. Perkins, working back from labrum surgery in June 2016, is scheduled to make two more appearances for the Lookouts after five combined outings in the Gulf Coast and Florida State leagues.

Right-hander Phil Hughes underwent thoracic-outlet syndrome revision surgery on Thursday in Texas. Dr. Greg Pearl, the ’ team physician, performed the season-ending procedure.

Catcher Brian Navaretto and outfielder Tanner English were named best defensive players at their respective positions by Florida State League managers in ’s annual Best Tools survey.

Right-hander Ben Molitor (son of the Twins’ manager) tossed three innings of one-run ball and picked up the victory for an Edina Little League all-star team in town to play a Milwaukee-area club. “He throws strikes,” Paul Molitor said.

Twins go over .500 with 5th straight victory Adam McCalvy and Andrew Gruman| MLB | August 11, 2017

MILWAUKEE -- The Twins are back over .500 after steamrolling the slumping Brewers in four straight games.

Joe Mauer and Byron Buxton collected three hits apiece in the Twins' 7-2 win on Thursday at Miller Park, as Minnesota singled Milwaukee into submission for a sweep of consecutive two-game Interleague series between the old American League rivals. With five straight victories, the Twins are within a half-game of the Mariners and Rays for the second AL Wild Card. Minnesota is also 3 1/2 games behind the AL Central-leading Indians.

"These guys are enjoying a little bit of an underdog role here," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We've been able to put together a little bit of a run."

The Brewers have lost five in a row and 17 of 26 since the All-Star break, and after entering the night in a virtual tie for second place in the 6

National League Central with the Cardinals, they fell into sole possession of third for the first time since May 12. Milwaukee dropped two games behind the division-leading Cubs and one game behind St. Louis.

"Offensively, it's just not enough," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose club is in a prolonged slump. "We have to step up here."

Twins left-hander Dietrich Enns lasted only 2 1/3 innings in his Major League debut, despite being spotted a 3-0 lead in the second inning and a 6-1 lead in the third by an offense that tallied 12 hits -- 11 singles -- mostly against Brewers starter Zach Davies. Davies had surrendered only three earned runs over 28 2/3 innings in his previous four starts, but he was charged with seven runs (six earned) on a career-high 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Keon Broxton homered for the Brewers, who were outscored by the Twins over the four games by a 27-10 margin, including 11-2 in the two games at Miller Park.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Polanco pours it on: Switch-hitting Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco had a .570 OPS entering August and was at .581 entering the home-and-home series against the Brewers. He made the most of those four games, going 10-for-15 and reaching safely in 11 of 17 plate appearances, including singles in his first two plate appearances on Thursday. Polanco's RBI single off Davies in the second inning plated the second of Minnesota's three runs in the frame.

"He's getting affirmation for the work that he put in when he was not playing," Molitor said. "His at-bats have been significantly improved, even when they are resulting in outs."

All's well that Enns well: The Brewers had the makings of a big inning in the third when Jesus Aguilar worked an eight-pitch walk from Enns with the bases loaded and one out, cutting Milwaukee's deficit to 6-2. Molitor had seen enough of Enns, lifting the rookie after 53 pitches in favor of reliever Alan Busenitz, whose second pitch induced a sharp grounder to third base from Brewers catcher Manny Pina. Sano made a backhanded pick, stepped on third and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

"We didn't get it done," Counsell said. "You can say he hit it hard, and sometimes, that's part of it, but we can't use that as an excuse for 25 games. Often you can say you were a hit away, but sometimes, you just have to get that hit. That's the bottom line."

Enns, one of the prospects acquired by the Twins from the Yankees for Jaime Garcia, settled for a no-decision in his debut. "I thought given the circumstances, coming over to a new team, getting promoted, [pitching] close to home with a lot of family [in attendance], he did OK," Molitor said. "He threw it over and used all his pitches. It just kind of got away from him a little bit there. It was just a situation where I felt I needed to make a move there and minimize the damage and protect the lead we had built over the first couple of innings."

QUOTABLE "I couldn't help but laugh and smile. I'm just out here trying to have fun. It was the last thing on my mind. When I got called up, I didn't even realize I was going to have to hit until a couple of hours later and I was like, 'Oh, man.' It is exciting to get that one out of the way. Hopefully my swing can improve from here on out. -- Enns, on collecting his first Major League hit

"You can see some guys carrying a lot more weight than others and taking losses harder than they have in the past, and that's about it. Just let them know we have 162 of these [games]. We're not done yet, so let's just keep going." -- Brewers veteran Matt Garza, on why he spoke up in a players-only meeting after the game

WHAT'S NEXT Twins: After having his turn in the rotation bumped back a day, Kyle Gibson will start Minnesota's series opener in Detroit on Friday at 6:10 p.m. CT. The right-hander will be making his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 4. He allowed three runs over 7 1/3 innings against the Tigers on July 22. This will be Gibson's fourth start of the season against Detroit.

Brewers: The Brewers will continue their seven-game homestand with a three-game set against the Reds this weekend. Right-hander Jimmy Nelson will look to build on his team-leading 14 quality starts when he takes the mound at 7:10 p.m. CT on Friday. Nelson is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA against Cincinnati this season, allowing three earned runs on eight hits over 14 innings with 16 strikeouts.

Polanco finds stroke at plate in August Andrew Gruman | Pioneer Press | August 9, 2017

The 24-year-old lost playing time while enduring a difficult July, but he has bounced back in a big way so far in August. After the Twins' 7-2 win 7 over the Brewers at Miller Park on Thursday, Polanco is 14-for-28 (.500) through the club's first eight August games. In the club's four games against Milwaukee this week, Polanco went 10-for-15 with three extra-base hits and five RBIs.

"He had a good series," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We're certainly shaking our head, too. He did a nice job. I thought our game plan was fine. We got ahead of him a bunch, but he did a nice job."

At the end of May, Polanco was hitting .257, but he struggled to the tune of a .203 average in June. He then collected just four hits over the entire month of July, hitting .078 in 57 plate appearances. The slump cost Polanco playing time, as he started just 14 of Minnesota's 29 games. "We still believe and never stopped believing that it was in there," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It is one of those down escalators that get young players at times. It is a combination of getting outside of what you normally do well and pressing a bit to get hits and trying to establish yourself here in a first-time opportunity of being an everyday player.

"But he's responded. He's getting affirmation for the work he put in while he wasn't playing. His at-bats have been significantly improved, even when they are resulting in outs."

Polanco now has an eight-game hitting streak and has recorded multiple hits in four consecutive games for the first time in his career. Jorge Polanco continued his scorching August with two more hits, including a two-out double that scored Eddie Rosario in the second. Brian Dozier banged out three hits, including his 22nd homer and sixth in nine games, and Miguel Sano added a run-scoring double in the seventh.

His 10 hits in the four wins over the Brewers exceeded his total from June 24 to the end of July, during which he was just 8-for-77 (.104) with three extra-base hits.

"It feels good to know that you can do things better," Polanco said through a translator. "I always stayed positive. I tried not to put my head down, and I always kept telling myself that I had to stay positive."

Hughes has another surgery Phil Hughes underwent thoracic outlet revision surgery on Thursday in Dallas, officially ending his season. It marks the second straight season the procedure, which removes a rib to relieve nerve pressure on the shoulder, has ended Hughes' season.

The right-hander underwent the initial procedure in July 2016, but the first surgery did not solve the problem. Hughes struggled to a 5.87 ERA over 14 appearances, nine starts, this season, before he was placed on the 60-day disabled list on July 18.

Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: 5 things to note from rookie Dietrich Enns’ MLB debut with the Twins Derek Wetmore | 1500 ESPN | August 11, 2017

Rookie left-hander Dietrich Enns made his MLB debut Thursday and the Twins won their fifth consecutive ball game. They’ve now won 7 of their past 9 and shortly after selling at the non-waiver trade deadline, they have their fans refreshing the MLB Wild Card standings every morning.

Much more on the Twins and their postseason opportunities in future columns. This column is about Dietrich Enns, the lefty starter that the Twins acquired from the Yankees, along with , from the Yankees in the Jaime Garcia trade (the second one).

Here are 5 thoughts from his MLB debut:

1. Enns worked mostly at 90-91 mph with his fastball.

He also hit some 92s. He’s not going to be an overpowering guy, by the looks of things. Stop me if you’ve heard the refrain before: Command of his fastball will be an important trait in the Majors.

I watched Enns on TV on Thursday and it’s the first time that I’d seen him pitch. He seemed to me to really expect to throw his curveball for strikes, even though he didn’t always accomplish that in his debut outing. He did have some very useful breaking balls, and he can also gets swings and misses with the pitch depending on the location, break, and setup.

You always wonder about the adjustments required to go from getting out minor league hitters — who may swing at more quality pitches and help the pitcher out by expanding the strike zone — to the guys in the Majors. I wondered that Thursday specifically with a few of the early curves Enns threw.

He also showed a changeup in the 3rd inning before things got a little hairy and Paul Molitor used a quick hook to hand things over to his 8 bullpen.

You wouldn’t say he features overpowering stuff, but he has more variety in his arsenal than the current incarnation of his rotation mate, Bartolo Colon. Enns, if you’re wondering, was 5 years old when Colon debuted in the big leagues.

2. It’s worth a peek at his minor league numbers to inform our early belief about him.

It’s fairly rare for a player to have a huge deviation from who he was in the minor leagues once he reaches the highest rung on the ladder. So far we only have a few innings of big league work off which to judge. Relative to that small sample size, we have a mountain of info from the minor leagues.

I’ll skip the injury history, as that’s been well-documented. Despite those various setbacks, Enns has a 1.89 caeer ERA in 395 2/3 innings. That includes a 2.10 ERA this year in 51 1/3 innings split between the Twins and Yankees organizations, mostly in the International League at Triple-A. For his career, he strikes out about a better per inning, and that’s the case this year as well. He’s walked an average fof 3.4 batters per 9 innings in his minor league career, which includes 12 walks in 51 2/3 innings this year (a pretty good 2.1 BB/9).

He’s surrendered just 13 homers in his whole minor league career, which isn’t quite Trevor Hildenberger-level dominance in that regard, but it’s a pretty good mark. (He served up a long ball Thursday in his first outing in the Majors.) Three of the 7 outs he recorded were on ground balls, although Brewers hitters also hit a few balls hard against him in the series finale.

3. He got an infield hit.

That’s a memory the Enns supporters won’t soon forget. Legging out an infield single against slick-fielding shortstop Orlando Arcia.

The headline on this video reads “Enns tallies first hit of career.” I saw another headline Thursday night that read “Enns smacks his first career hit,” which leads me to believe that some headline writer out there has a sense of humor.

4. Without looking: How many pitchers have the Twins used this season?

Dietrich makes 31.

Thirty-one different pitchers — OK, 30 pitchers and Chris Gimenez — in 113 games! That’s already more than last year’s total of 29, and that Twins team lost 103 games based largely on the fact that as a group they couldn’t pitch well enough. This team is one game above .500 as of this writing.

When I first saw that Dietrich would get the nod Thursday it made me wonder if Derek Falvey is surprised by the staggering turnover, or if it’s about what he expected when he took over the Twins.

The previous four seasons the Twins averaged 24 pitchers required to complete the fully season of games. This team’s on pace to use 44. I’d be shocked if they get to that number, of course, but it just serves as a point of reference for how much they’ve sped through pitchers this season.

5. Enns left the game after he got into some hot water in the 3rd inning.

Molitor had seen enough, and he handed it over to the bullpen, which did a great job keeping the Brewers at bay the rest of the contest.

In particular, Alan Busenitz and Miguel Sano saved his bacon with a nifty groundball double play to end the inning and strand a couple of runners after Enns left with Brewers on base.

Twins take fifth straight, sweeping Brewers in home-and-home Associated Press | August 11, 2017

MILWAUKEE — The are embracing the underdog role.

Byron Buxton and Joe Mauer each had three singles and the Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers for the fourth consecutive game, 7-2 on Thursday night. 9

The Twins, who have won five straight and are 7-3 in August, had 12 hits — 11 singles and a double — to sweep a home-and-home, four-game set with Milwaukee.

“We’re energized, and you can feel it,” Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. “These guys are enjoying a little bit of an underdog role here and we’ve been able to put together a little bit of a run.”

The Brewers have lost five straight games, are 7-17 since July 16 and fell into third place in the NL Central with the loss.

Rookie Alan Busenitz (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief for his first major league win. He was the first of four Minnesota relievers to pitch 6 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

“We get to their bullpen early and let their relievers just run through some innings far too easily,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s something we’ve struggled with. Against these relievers, we’re not putting up much of a fight.”

Milwaukee starter Zach Davies (13-6) allowed seven runs, six earned, a career-high 11 hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struggled after allowing just three earned runs and 19 hits over 28 2/3 innings his past four starts.

Mauer came into the game in a 1-for-20 slump. He went 3 for 5 with singles in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

“He comes up and gets three big hits,” Molitor said of Mauer. “Two top spots (in the lineup) were 0 for 10 but we get 12, 13 hits and score seven runs. So, there’s a lot of ways to get it done and that adds to the confidence collectively.”

Buxton was 6 for 27 since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 1. He was 3 for 4 with singles in the second, third and fifth innings, his first multi-hit game since July 6.

The Twins scored three runs in the second and third innings off Davies. Minnesota strung together four consecutive hits to open the second inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Keon Broxton homered with two outs in the second, his 16th, for Milwaukee to make it 3-1. The homer snapped a 15-inning scoreless streak for the Brewers.

Mauer led off the third with a single, and the Twins had five singles in the inning to open a 6-1 lead.

POLANCO STREAKING

Twins SS Jorge Polanco has an eight-game winning streak (14 for 28) and said he has made adjustments at the plate. “When things aren’t going well you have to make adjustments,” he said.

DIDN’T ENNS WELL

Minnesota starter Dietrich Enns, making his major league debut after joining the Twins organization July 30 in the trade that sent Jaime Garcia to the Yankees, lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up two runs, one earned, five hits and a walk. Molitor pulled him after just 53 pitches. The left- hander regularly threw 85-95 pitches in his minor league starts. “We have some options, obviously, and probably are going to sleep on it and see what we come up with (Friday),” Molitor said of whether Enns will remain with the team.

BRAUN HOT

Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun has multiple hits in five consecutive games, going 12 for 21 to raise hit batting average to .289 from .260.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glen Perkins (left shoulder strain) pitched one inning in a rehab outing for Double-A Chattanooga on Thursday night against Birmingham. The three-time AL All-Star, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since April 10, 2016 due to injury, allowed one hit in 11 pitches.

Brewers: 3B Travis Shaw rejoined the team Thursday after missing a game due to personal reasons. . . . C Stephen Vogt (left knee strain) participated in baseball drills Thursday and is expected to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. 10

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (6-9) takes the mound at Detroit, his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 4.

Brewers: RHP Jimmy Nelson (9-5) pitches when the team opens a three-game series against Cincinnati.

MN Ballpark Authority Receives Praise for Target Field Suite Policy ABC Eyewitness News | August 10, 2017

The governing bodies of both U.S. Bank and TCF Bank stadiums have drawn criticism for allowing friends, family or public officials to use suites free of charge.

On the other hand, the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, the group that oversees Target Field, is receiving praise for a decision it's made about suite use this season. In April, the authority changed its policy so its suite is primarily used by schools and nonprofits.

"I think it is kind of a model others might want to follow," said Dan Kenny, the authority's executive director. "Some charities use it to recognize volunteers, some use it as a silent auction item to raise money for their cause."

On Tuesday night at Target Field, for a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Ballpark Authority suite was used by the Minnesota Youth Baseball Association.

"These stadiums were built by the people, for the people, and I think you need to use these for organizations that are trying to better their communities," youth coach Tom Sullivan said.

The Ballpark Authority provides access to the suite that includes 24 tickets. Food and drink is the responsibility of the nonprofit or school using the suite.

The suite is booked for the remainder of the 2017 baseball season, and the authority expects to begin taking applications for next season sometime this fall.

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