Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Saturday, September 16, 2017 Bartolo Colon loses shutout mojo as Blue Jays squeak by Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Reusse: Twins' Hildenberger finding success after switch to sidearm. Star Tribune (Reusse) p. 2 Doug Mientkiewicz is fired as minor league manager for Twins. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3 Which Twins relief pitchers do you trust the most, and in what order? Star Tribune (Rand) p. 5 Postgame: Molitor had reason to believe Colon had another inning. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 5 Twins hope Bartolo Colon celebrates Big Sexy Night with another gem. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 6 No late thunder this time for Twins in 4-3 loss to Blue Jays. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 7 Twins’ Jose Berrios holding up well under career-high innings load. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 8 Twins pitchers flex entrepreneur muscles during rehab year. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 10 In thick of WC chase, Twins turn to lefty Mejia. MLB.com (Jackson) p. 12 Twins fall to Toronto, give up ground in WC race. MLB.com (Bollinger & Jackson) p. 12 Report: Twins have fired minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 13 Twins starter J.O. Berrios unfazed as his workload crosses into uncharted territory. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 14 Twins come up 1 run short in loss to Blue Jays. Associated Press p. 15 Playoff paths for teams on the bubble. ESPN (Sawchik) p. 16 Twins fire minor-league manager as he cleans up after Hurricane Irma. Sporting News (Weinstein) p. 17 Levine: Gibson "Has Established Himself" As Part Of Twins' Pitching Equation. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 17 Bartolo Colon loses shutout mojo as Blue Jays squeak by Twins Phil Miller | Star Tribune | September 16, 2017 Paul Molitor was wearing his Big Sexy T-shirt after the game, as were many Twins players and coaches. Great promotion, everyone agreed, including Big Sexy himself. Just one problem. “Didn’t work,” Molitor shrugged. No, Bartolo Colon, proud bearer of the Big Sexy persona (and owner of its trademark, too, all rights reserved), took a shutout into the fifth inning on Friday, but a leadoff home run by Kevin Pillar, another an inning later by Josh Donaldson, and a fateful leadoff walk in the seventh inning spoiled the party. Toronto seized that opening to rally for a 4-3 victory that stopped the Twins’ three-game winning streak and cut their lead for the second AL wild card to two over Los Angeles after the Angels won later Friday. “Every team kind of gets an inning where they score some runs,” said Colon, who departed to a loud ovation after surrendering a tying double to Russell Martin, “and I think that was their inning.” It turned into it, yes, when Colon walked Pillar on four pitches, then fell behind Martin 2-1 and tried to fool Martin with a high fastball that wound up tomahawked off the left field wall on a bounce, scoring Pillar. On a night of long and loud Toronto outs, Eddie Rosario had little chance of catching up to that one. “Lot of balls in the air. Kind of the way he does it,” Molitor said. “Sometimes it’s going to be some fly balls that might scare you a little bit, and he’s going to give up some homers, too. That’s just how it works.” The homers were plenty loud, too, with Pillar jumping on an inside fastball and lining it to the left field seats, and Donaldson absolutely crushing a similar pitch into the upper deck in left. But the game was ultimately decided by a ball that traveled only 60 feet on the fly. That one was by Donaldson, too, after Ryan Pressly relieved Colon with the score tied 3-3 and gave up a bunt single to Ryan Goins. “It was just a good bunt. It was an awkward spot,” said Pressly, who cut off third baseman Eduardo Escobar to try to make the play but didn’t pick up the ball cleanly. “If I get to it, I don’t even know if I get him out.” He retired Tenscar Hernandez on a popup and Richard Urena on a strikeout with a 98-miles-per-hour fastball. But Donaldson got the go-ahead run home by lining a ball off Pressley’s left foot. “I’m trying to get out of the way, and the ball hits me,” Pressly said. “I know [Brian] Dozier is playing right behind me.” That kind of night, Molitor said. “The ball was headed right toward Dozier,” he agreed. “But as baseball can do, a foot got in the way and [it was the] difference in the game.” It spoiled a festive night for the announced 27,902 fans, except for the large and noisy percentage of them Canadians. After two consecutive nights of walkoff home runs, there was a pennant-race atmosphere in Target Field, and it only grew as the Twins took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 off lefthander J.A. Happ, getting a third-inning sacrifice fly from Joe Mauer, a two-out RBI single in the fourth from Chris Gimenez and Brian Dozier’s 31st homer of the season in the fifth. The ending was a letdown. But at least people got collector’s item T-shirts. “It’s awesome to see fans and my teammates and coaches [wear those] for me,” Colon said. “I’m very thankful for them, and I know my family is very thankful.” Molitor was, too. “I think this will be my winter workout shirt,” he said. Reusse: Twins' Hildenberger finding success after switch to sidearm Patrick Reusse | Star Tribune | September 15, 2017 Trevor Hildenberger was a standout pitcher at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., and was recruited to Cal-Berkeley on a scholarship. He pitched two innings as a freshman in 2010, did not pitch in what became a redshirt season in 2011, and “around 10 innings’’ as a sophomore in 2012. “I had to be a disappointment as a pitcher for the coaches, and I know I was a disappointment to myself,’’ Hildenberger said. The real emotional blow as a competitor came in 2011, when the Golden Bears reached the College World Series. “Our pitching staff was stacked, and I wasn’t good enough to be part of it,’’ Hildenberger said. “I warmed up once … in an 18-inning game. I was going in for the 19th, if the game hadn’t ended. I watched the World Series from my couch in California.” There’s generally a story as to how a pitcher becomes a sidearmer. Most often, it’s due to an injury, and the search for a comfortable arm slot. Pat Neshek developed his submarine style after a wrist injury as a high school senior. There was no such malady involved in Hildenberger’s transformation from an overhand pitcher with mediocre stuff to the sidearm style that has made him a vital ingredient in the Twins’ unlikely push toward the 2017 postseason. California was practicing after the 2012 season. An infielder showed up wearing No. 37, and coach Dave Esquer said that number was more suited for a corner outfielder. Hildenberger was wearing No. 26 and asked the coach for his impression of that number. Esquer mentioned that both UCLA and Washington had sidearm pitchers who wore that number, and this turned into a suggestion that maybe Hildenberger should try a bullpen session as a sidearmer. “My pitches had better movement throwing from the side, and the coaches said, ‘OK, start throwing that way and we’ll see what happens,’ ” Hildenberger said. He became a serviceable pitcher for the Bears in 2013, with a 5-4 record and a 5.31 ERA in 26 games. “I had been in school for four years and had the credits I needed,’’ Hildenberger said. “I was going to finish up and find a job.’’ Late that summer, the Bears had a recruit sign after being drafted. Hildenberger said: “The coaches called and said, ‘We have some scholarship 2 money we didn’t expect. You want to come back?’ ’’ Hildenberger shrugged and said: “Another year of baseball. Why not?” He was sitting outside the Twins’ clubhouse at midafternoon Friday. That one more year at Cal — 28 games, 10 saves, a 2.83 ERA — turned into being selected in the 22nd round by the Twins in the 2014 draft. He was an All-Star in the Class A Midwest League and in the Arizona Fall League in 2015. He was an All-Star in the Class AA Southern League in 2016. In late June, Doug Mientkiewicz, his manager with Chattanooga, said: “If he’s not in the big leagues by the end of the year, I’ll be surprised.’’ In late July, tendinitis in his flexor tendon sent him to the disabled list. Soreness in the flexor tendon often has been a symptom of an elbow ligament that’s ready to tear. “The MRI showed the ligament was fine,’’ Hildenberger said. “Chad Jackson, the rehab trainer in Fort Myers, gave me some exercises for the flexor. I’ve had no problems since.’’ That has been very good news for Paul Molitor. Hildenberger was added to the roster on June 23. As the Twins’ pursuit of the postseason has become more earnest, the manager has become very reliant on the rookie. “He’s not strictly a sidearmer,’’ Molitor said. “He throws three or four pitches from different arm angles. That can make him a handful for any hitter.’’ Hildenberger didn’t start throwing a changeup until the extra season at California.