Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Wednesday, September 13, 2017 Twins launch seven homers to wallop San Diego 16-0. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1 Miguel Sano might be available soon to Twins. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 2 Dozier gets robbed of attempt at cycle; Sano getting better; Twins coaches deal with Irma. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 3 Twins set a record in home run streak. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 4 Twins smack seven home runs in 16-0 clobbering of Padres. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 4 John Shipley: So, Paul Molitor isn’t Falvine’s dream date. So what? Pioneer Press (Shipley) p. 5 Twins’ Miguel Sano ‘inching closer’ to a return, likely as designated hitter. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 6 Twins club 7 homers as Gibson blanks Padres. MLB.com (Bollinger & Jackson) p. 7 HR history: Twins go deep in 7 straight innings. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 8 Dozier notches 2nd straight 30-HR season. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 9 Twins slated to open '18 season against O's. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 9 Twins select Moya's contract, DFA Vielma. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 10 Mining the Minors: Which Twins minor leaguers saw their stock rise in 2017? ESPN 1500 (Depue) p. 10 Zulgad: Brian Dozier’s frustration has proven to be a second-half hit for Twins. ESPN 1500 (Zulgad) p. 12 The Twins set a new MLB record during another lopsided laugher. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 13 Twins set Target Field record, mash 7 homers to rout Padres. Associated Press p. 14 Twins to ‘host’ Indians in Puerto Rico next season. FSN p. 15 Padres make awful home run history while getting blown out 16-0. Yahoo! Sports (Cwik) p. 15 Twins Designate Engelb Vielma For Assignment. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 16 Added To The 40-Man Roster: Arano, Moya. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 16 The Twins hit 7 home runs in the first 7 innings against the Padres. SB Nation (McIntosh) p. 16 Elizabethton, Minnesota Twins one step closer to finalizing five-year agreement. WJHL News (Moore) p. 17 Twins launch seven homers to wallop San Diego 16-0 La Velle E. Neal | Star Tribune | September 13, 2017 The home runs came from throughout the lineup Tuesday night, starting with a leadoff homer by Brian Dozier all the way down to No. 8 hitter Jason Castro. There were a couple of opposite-field shots and a few pitches catapulted where few baseballs travel. “It’s fun. It’s loud,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “There weren’t too many cheapies.” The momentum built with each mighty swing, with fans roaring with anticipation when any fly ball headed for the outfield. The Twins kept slugging until they demolished San Diego 16-0, becoming the first major league team to hit a home run in each of the first seven innings. It was a good night in the Wild Card race for the Twins, too. Houston beat the Angels 1-0 to give the Twins a two game lead over Los Angeles with 18 games to play. Texas lost to fall three games behind, where the Rangers are tied with the Royals. Let’s go over the homers. Dozier’s leadoff blast was his 30th of the season. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run shot in the second. Castro hit a two-run homer in the third. Eddie Rosario hit a two-run blast in the fourth. Castro added a second homer, a solo shot in the fifth, and Eduardo Escobar tried to hit one to First Avenue in the sixth, settling for a 427-foot bomb. Kennys Vargas, in as a substitute for Joe Mauer, added a three-run missile in the seventh that was estimated at 430 feet. “Kennys’ was kind of an exclamation point there,” Molitor said. The Elias Sports Bureau confirmed the home-run streak. And it pointed out that the Twins had never scored in all eight innings of a home game before — before the Twins went down 1-2-3 in the eighth. Still, it was quite a way to begin a homestand, as the Twins moved two games ahead of the Angels for the second wild-card spot in the American League, after Houston edged Los Angeles 1-0 in Anaheim, Calif., late Tuesday. It was the second time this month the Twins have scored at least 16 runs in a game. Their 18 hits was the fourth time they have achieved that mark this season. The bottom four hitters in the lineup — Rosario, Robbie Grossman, Castro and Ehire Adrianza — combined to go 9-for-18 with seven RBI and nine runs scored. Castro hit multiple home runs in a game for the fourth time in his career, his first time as a Twin. Dozier now has consecutive seasons with at least 30 home runs, joining Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, Gary Gaetti and Justin Morneau in Twins history. “It feels really good when you see those balls going out every single inning,” Polanco said. “You get happy. You get excited. It was a lot of excitement in the dugout. It was a cool thing to be a part of.” The seven home runs were the most given up by the Padres this season. Starting pitching Travis Wood (3-6) was knocked out of the game in the third inning after giving up nine earned runs on nine hits, including three home runs. It allowed Twins righthander Kyle Gibson (10-10) to have the easiest of starts. He happened to be on the mound against the Royals on Sept. 2 when the Twins won 17-0. He cruised through six shutout innings, giving up four hits while striking out six. He dropped his ERA to a season-low 4.97. Keep in mind that his ERA was 6.31 on July 9. He was removed after six innings and 74 pitches as Molitor saw an opportunity to rest him for the stretch run. “The offense got on the board early again,” Gibson said. “Had a similar feel to Kansas City a couple weeks ago.” Lucky guy, that Gibson. Miguel Sano might be available soon to Twins La Velle E. Neal | Star Tribune | September 12, 2017 Miguel Sano took early batting practice Tuesday, and manager Paul Molitor heard the familiar sound of baseballs exploding off the slugger’s bat. “He looked good,” Molitor admitted. The day could be coming when Molitor can use Sano in a game. He could be available off the bench by the end of the six-game homestand. Sano has not fully recovered from a stress reaction in his left shin, but he’s progressed enough to where the Twins are now contemplating how to use him once he’s cleared to play. Sano has been out since Aug. 20 after fouling a pitch off the shin. “I’m trying to be optimistic about it,” Molitor said. “I know he’s excited about the potential of coming back and helping us.” Sano, who continues to wear a protective boot, was scheduled to meet with Twins physician Dr. John Steubs on Tuesday to check his progress. The Twins don’t want to push Sano and would probably use him off the bench once he’s available. “I don’t want to hurt the guy,” Molitor said. “I want to make sure our risk is minimal about how and when we start to think about putting him in a game.” Moya joins bullpen The Twins selected the contract of lefthander Gabriel Moya from Class AA Chattanooga, giving them another option in the bullpen. Moya, 22, was 4-1 with a 0.82 ERA in 24 games for Class AA Jackson of the Diamondbacks chain before he was dealt to the Twins for catcher 2 John Ryan Murphy on July 27. After the trade, Moya was 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA for Chattanooga. In 14â…” innings, Moya walked three and struck out 19. Moya pitched the ninth inning of Tuesday's 16-0 victory over the Padres. His fastball touches the low 90s, but he’s gotten strikeouts because of a deceptive delivery. In addition to a fastball, Moya uses a slider and changeup. Molitor said he can get righthanded hitters out as well as lefties. The Twins now have 14 relievers on the active roster, including five lefthanders. To make room for Moya on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated infielder Engelb Vielma for release or assignment. Vielma can pick it, but batted only .206 in 87 games with Class AAA Rochester after being promoted from Chattanooga. Molitor brought Moya in to pitch the ninth Tuesday, but wasn’t sure how he was going to use him in the future. “We’ve got 14 choices down there,” Molitor said of the bullpen. 2018 schedule released The Twins open the 2018 season on March 29 in Baltimore as part of a full slate of games. It will be the earliest start date in the sport’s history, not including international games, and the first Opening Day since 1968 on which every team will play. The earlier start date allows for four more off days during the regular season. Here are a couple of interesting details about the Twins schedule: The Twins will play Cleveland in a two-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico on April 17-18 — the first time the Twins have played outside the U.S. and Canada. Twins President Dave St. Peter said the club expressed concerns to the league about the travel schedule around the series, and the league obliged.