Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, April 21, 2017 'Aggravating' series ends with Twins swept by Cleveland. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1 Scoggins: Molitor endures a difficult day at the office. Star Tribune (Scoggins) p. 2 Twins postgame: Santana steady, Molitor chatty, Twins in play for Cuban outfielder. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 3 Paul Molitor's fifth career ejection sparked by 'inconsistencies' from umpire. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 4 MLB mock drafts predict Twins will use No. 1 pick on pitching. Star Tribune (Gonzalez) p. 5 Twins' Buxton on slow start: 'I just need to relax'. Star Tribune (Hartman) p. 6 Twins lose fourth straight, fall below .500 for first time. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 7 Twins not ready to send Byron Buxton to minors, Paul Molitor says. Pioneer Press (Graff) p. 8 Bullpen coughs up lead in loss to Indians. MLB (Bollinger & Mason) p. 9 After Santana exits, Indians get to bullpen. MLB (Bollinger) p. 11 Santiago looks to continue strong start vs. Tigers. MLB (Butherus) p. 11 Rehabbing O'Rourke sees Twins' doctor. MLB (Bollinger) p. 12 Mining the Minors: Is it Time to Call Up Daniel Palka? ESPN 1500 (Depue) p. 12 Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: Pinch hitting for Buxton, wasting Santana’s start, Mollie tossed. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 14 Santana pitches well again, but Indians sweep Twins. FOX Sports (Associated Press) p. 16 Minnesota Twins: Can Byron Buxton Be Saved? FOX Sports (Akre) p. 17 Preview: Twins vs. Tigers. FOX Sports (Staff) p. 18 Ex-Detroit Tiger Torii Hunter enjoying new role with Minnesota Twins. Detroit Free Press (Sipple) p. 19 Twins Announce ‘Prince Night’ Set For June 16. CBS Minnesota (Staff) p. 20 Brunansky is Stingers' opening-night guest. West Central Tribune (Staff) p. 20 'Aggravating' series ends with Twins swept by Cleveland La Velle E. Neal lll | Star Tribune | April 20, 2017 A rainout on Wednesday shortened the Twins’ series against Cleveland to three games. Well, at least that helped the Twins avoid being swept in four. Despite starter Ervin Santana pitching six effective innings, the Twins lost 6-2 after the bullpen stumbled and the offense continued to sputter. Cleveland swept the shortened series, and the Twins need to regroup. The Twins like to think they are better this season. There’s no better way to test that hypothesis than by facing the defending American League champions. Through three games, it’s not even a debate. The Twins blew leads in all three games. They batted .235 in the series and scored a total of seven runs. They were 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position (.182). This against a team that they were a surprising 9-10 against last season, including 5-5 at Progressive Field. “I think they stack up with us pretty well,” said Brian Dozier, who was 1-for-13 in the series. “A lot of things didn’t go our way, which has cost us games this homestand so far. It’s very aggravating.” Cleveland showed off why it’s the class of the AL. On Thursday, Carlos Santana was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles. Trevor Bauer gave up just two runs over 6 ⅓ innings. Relievers Bryan Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen locked down the late innings. Now saddled with a four-game losing streak, the Twins also have lost seven of their past nine. Ervin Santana wasn’t as sharp as he was on Saturday, when he tossed a one-hitter at the White Sox, but he was effective enough to hold Cleveland to one run over six innings on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. The Twins led 2-1 at the time, on a bases-loaded balk by Bauer and a sacrifice fly by Jorge Polanco, both in the fourth inning. Twins manager Paul Molitor, who was ejected in the eighth inning when he questioned home plate umpire Alan Porter for not asking for help on a checked swing by Jason Castro, turned the game over to his bullpen. Tyler Duffey started the seventh but gave up two infield hits around a groundout. Molitor pulled Duffey and inserted Taylor Rogers to face Carlos Santana, whose slugging percentage was nearly 150 points lower against lefthanded pitchers last season. Rogers left a fastball over the plate, and Santana bashed it to left for a game-tying double. Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Rogers let an 0-2 advantage to Michael Brantley slip away, walking him to force in the lead run. Matt Belisle replaced Rogers and walked in another run. “With the scouting reports and the way the at-bat was going, he was waiting for the fastball away to flick it to left field,” Rogers said. “I just wanted to go inside, but the count got late. Stayed away from the curveball so I wouldn’t walk him — and ended up walking him.” Indians manager Terry Francona used four pitchers to get three outs in the seventh — with Miller getting Joe Mauer to fly out with two on and two out to end the inning and the Twins’ last threat. So the Twins’ first meeting with Cleveland this season revealed how far they have to go to compete with the class of the AL Central. “We gave them fits last year and we’re a lot better this year, and they just swept us,” Dozier said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes.” Scoggins: Molitor endures a difficult day at the office Chip Scoggins | Star Tribune | April 21, 2017 Paul Molitor had a full plate of pivotal decisions Thursday and he didn't even make it until the end of his workday. The Twins manager earned his first ejection of the season in the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss to Cleveland that moved slower than a 40-yard dash between three-toed sloths. Molitor reached his breaking point with home plate umpire Alan Porter, who had an inconsistent strike zone all game. Molitor leapt out of the dugout to protest a checked-swing strikeout of catcher Jason Castro, and Porter gave Molitor a quick hook. Molitor was upset that Porter didn't ask his colleagues for help on the checked swing. "That's a hard call for him to make if he's tracking the pitch," Molitor said. Molitor encountered his own set of difficult calls. He sent out his starting pitcher to start an inning with his pitch count at 93 to face the middle of Cleveland's order. He called for an intentional walk to load the bases. And he pinch-hit for his best defensive outfielder in the seventh inning of a close game with a short bench. Baseball managers subject themselves to second-guessing on a daily basis with decisions involving their pitchers or substitutions. Molitor made three intriguing moves before getting tossed. Two worked out, one didn't. "There are a lot of decisions in a close game when you're really trying to win and salvage one," he said. "You've got your best pitcher on the mound and you're trying to discern how far you can take him with a high pitch count. You don't have a lot of offensive bullets on the bench [with only three players because of a 13-member pitching staff]." Molitor sent starter Ervin Santana to the mound in the sixth inning despite having thrown 93 pitches. Santana had struggled with his control, but he limited Cleveland's potent lineup to one run on four hits. 2 "He wanted to go back out, and we were monitoring him," Molitor said. Santana rewarded his manager's faith by pitching a mostly clean inning. He faced four batters, walking one. He left the game after 113 pitches with a 2-1 lead. The bullpen faltered, which led to a move that backfired. Cleveland tied the score in the seventh and had runners on second and third with one out. Molitor had Francisco Lindor intentionally walked to load the bases. Reliever Taylor Rogers got ahead of Michael Brantley 0-2 in the count. Molitor's move looked smart until Rogers lost control and walked Brantley for what proved to be the game's decisive run. Molitor went to his bullpen again that inning and Matt Belisle walked in another run. "Certainly if you load the bases with an intentional walk there's always that risk," Molitor said. A two-run deficit against Cleveland's bullpen is tough sledding, but Molitor saw a ray of hope when Eddie Rosario singled with one out in the seventh. That brought up Byron Buxton. Cleveland manager Terry Francona changed pitchers, bringing in righthander Bryan Shaw. Molitor countered by pinch-hitting lefty Eduardo Escobar for Buxton, who is basically an automatic out at this point. "I don't look forward to pinch-hitting for guys in certain situations, especially when you've got almost three innings to play," Molitor said. Escobar drew a walk so the switch worked, though the Twins stranded two runners. Molitor revealed his level of patience with Buxton in an important late-game situation. In two at-bats Thursday, Buxton struck out and fouled out. He's now hitting .082 with 24 strikeouts. He's a mess at the plate. Molitor said before the game that the team has no plans to send Buxton to the minors. But Molitor faces a balancing act between nurturing Buxton's development by giving him important at-bats vs. doing what's best for the team. "If you have the luxury, you try to let guys figure it out," Molitor said.