Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Graham tries to save the bullpen and lead the Twins over Brewers. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1

Postgame: Thoughts on Graham, the bullpen and Gomez. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 2

Chattanooga's Engel Stadium: Where legends played. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 2

Saturday's Twins-Milwaukee game recap. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 3

Twins notes: DH remains a revolving door. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 4

Gomez leads Brewers' attack over Twins. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 5

Chattanooga: Twins' Grade A talent in AA town. Star Tribune (Scoggins) p. 6

Carlos Gomez has field day as Brewers beat Twins. Star Tribune (Berardino) p. 8

Twinsights: Encouraging start to bullpen experiment for Alex Meyer. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 9

Twinsights: Ricky Nolasco receives cortisone shot in ankle. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 9

Postgame Twinsights: Ryan Pressly pulls it together after horrible start. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 10

Twinsights: Ex-Twin Edgar Ibarra breaks through. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 11

Once a fan, Counsell now Molitor’s peer. MLB.com (Helfand) p. 12

Pelfrey, Fiers set to square off in finale at Target Field. MLB.com (Helfand) p. 12

Molitor, Twins sticking with 13 pitchers for now. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 13

Dozier goes deep, but Twins fall short vs. Crew. MLB.com (Bollinger & Helfand) p. 13

Twins’ RISPy business spells tough series. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 14

Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: Graham’s start in ‘pen game, Go-Go’s big game. 1500espn.com (Wetmore) p. 15

Gomez reaches base 5 times as Brewers take second in a row from Twins. Associated Press p. 17

Graham gleans confidence from spot start, despite Twins loss. Fox Sports North (Mason) p. 18

Graham tries to save the bullpen and lead the Twins over Brewers

La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

Downtown was busy this morning. People with Twins gear walking everywhere. Couples holding hands with their baseball jerseys on. Everyone laughing and smiling.

``This is like five years ago,'' I said to myself.

Then I get to the park and realize that its Torii Hunter jersey day, and the rubes are lined up at the gates. Duped again.

Anyway, J.R. Graham is on the mound today as the Twins try to use their bullpen to beat the Brewers. Graham has had moments when he's been pretty impressive, mixed in with flashes of being overwhelmed at this level.

The lineups are not out yet. Will check back with those, as well as updates.

Righthanders are hitting .283 off Matt Garza versus .244 for lefties, but Kurt Suzuki is still getting a day off today. So Chris Hermnann is behind home plate.

Twins manager Paul Molitor said that all of his relievers should be available today. It will still be interesting who he brings in after J.R. Graham

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runs out of gas. It's not surprising that the all the relievers are available today. They usually step up when it's a bullpen game.

It will be interesting to see what kind of running game the Twins have today. I'll explain later.

Postgame: Thoughts on Graham, the bullpen and Gomez

La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

Here are three thoughts following the Twins' 4-2 loss to the Brewers

NOT BAD FOR GRAHAM: J.R. Graham threw few changeups and just went after Brewers hitters with his fastball and slider. A first-inning fastball to Adam Lind registered 98 miles an hour on the radar gun, but he stayed around 93-96 most of the day. He threw first pitch sliders for strikes. He had to battle through a lot of at-bats, which is why he threw 63 pitches in four innings (and that's not that bad). It was a good outing for an emergency start. ``He only threw one bad pitch,'' catcher Chris Herrmann said. Yup, that was the home run Ryan Braun hit out to center in the first inning. Graham has gotten better two-plus months into his rookie season.

WHO'S AVAILABLE TOMORROW: Now the Twins have to see who can follow Mike Pelfrey tomorrow. Blaine Boyer might be due for a rest. Ryan Pressly might need to rest after going two innings. Casey Fien will be available. The time is right for Pelfrey to toss eight strong innings on Sunday because it would allow the bullpen to settle down from a workload standpoint.

PITCHING TO GOMEZ: A decision by Twins manager Paul Molitor in the seventh loomed large. The Brewers had runners on second and third with one out and Carlos Gomez at the plate. Aaron Thompson was on the mound, and Gomez was batting .200 against lefties. But Molitor decided to go to Blaine Boyer in the big situation. Gomez was batting .282 against righthanders. Righthanders were batting .325 off Boyer. And first base was open. ``You got Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun coming up and you have an open base. You're hoping (Gomez's) free swinging will get you a strikeout or a ground ball to the infield. The design was to try to get him to expand (his zone) a little bit. We got him to expand down but not far enough away. He's smart enough now, he's had enough success to realize that he's going to get something that is spinning. He's not going to get a first pitch fastball that he can handle.'' The trends were confirmed on the first pitch when Gomez served a two-run single to left, giving Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. ``I'm not afraid of using (intentional walks),'' Molitor said. ``I don't like to do it unless I feel there is going to be a benefit.''

Chattanooga’s Engel Stadium: Where legends played

Chip Scoggins | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – A mixture of weeds and large rocks populate the outfield grass in center field. Puddles from overnight rain form in the dugouts. The old ballpark looks like an abandoned lot, desolate and sad.

Engel Stadium is a ghost town these days, shuttered more than a decade ago, but its history and the legends who played in the former home of the Chattanooga Lookouts will forever remain part of its lore and charm.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played in an exhibition game at Engel. Willie Mays made his professional debut here with a Negro minor league team. Rogers Hornsby served as the Lockouts’ player-manager for one season.

One day a young slugger named Harmon Killebrew smashed a home run so far over the center field fence that it became folklore.

Scenes from the movie “42 — The Jackie Robinson Story” were filmed at Engel. Even Michael Jordan played in the venerable park during his hiatus from basketball.

The Twins organization’s ties to the Lookouts and Engel Stadium can be traced to the late 1920s when Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith purchased the minor league team.

Killebrew, Bob Allison and Jim Kaat all spent time in Chattanooga.

The team’s association continued this season when the Lookouts became the Twins’ Class AA affiliate.

“It’s great that we’ve come full-circle,” said Mickey McCamish, who sold Coca-Cola at Engel Stadium as a kid in the early 1950s. “It brings back so much of the Lookouts history. It causes us to go back and revisit.”

The stadium is named after former team president Joe Engel, a renowned promotor who earned the nickname “Barnum of the Bushes” because of his showmanship and gimmicks to attract crowds.

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According to the Engel Foundation’s archives, Engel once traded a player for a 25-pound turkey. He also found a 17-year-old girl named Jackie Mitchell to pitch against Ruth and Gehrig. She struck out both.

Engel crammed more than 26,000 fans into the stadium one day by raffling off a house during the Great Depression. In 1953, he challenged a player named Don Grate to set the world record for longest throw, which he accomplished with a toss that measured 443 feet, 3 ½ inches.

“The richness of its history is in what Joe Engel accomplished and what he brought,” said Ray Deering, a former Chattanooga sportswriter who has followed the Lookouts since 1952. “He was a larger-than-life character.”

Longtime fans of the team view Killebrew in similar regard. The Hall of Famer hit 29 home runs as a 21-year-old prospect in 1957.

According to legend and historical records, Killebrew is the only player to hit a home run over the deepest part of center field, which stretched a whopping 471 feet from home plate.

Nearly 60 years later, memories are fuzzy.

“There was one I didn’t see, I don’t know how I missed it,” said Don Minnick, a Lookouts pitcher that season. “They said it was one of the most prodigious blasts.”

Russ Heman, who also pitched for the Lookouts that season, doesn’t remember that particular home run, but time hasn’t erased his memories of Killebrew’s towering homers.

“They were high and long,” Heman said. “When he hit one, you knew it was gone.”

Here’s a twist in the legend of Killebrew’s home run: Angelo LoGrande, a career minor leaguer in the Cleveland organization, said he also cleared that deepest part of center field in 1979 or ’80.

“Twice, I think,” he said.

Only Killebrew’s blast has been preserved in the legend of Engel Stadium.

“The railroad yards sit behind the stadium,” McCamish said. “He hit it over deep center, and they say the ball is still going.”

Saturday’s Twins-Milwaukee game recap

La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

GAME RECAP

IMPACT PLAYER

Carlos Gomez, Brewers

The former Twin was 4-for-4 with three RBI. He is hitting .471 in eight interleague games.

BY THE NUMBERS

12 Consecutive pitches outside the strike zone by Ryan Pressly to start the fifth. But he pitched a scoreless inning.

98 The speed, in miles per hour, of one first-inning fastball J.R. Graham threw to Adam Lind.

ON DECK

Mike Pelfrey will make his first start against Milwaukee since Aug. 19, 2011, when he was with the Mets. He’s 1-2 with a 3.48 ERA in five starts against them.

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Twins notes: DH remains a revolving door

La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

The Twins are a National League team disguised as an American League one. Why? They don’t have a designated hitter.

Ever since Kennys Vargas was sent to Class AAA Rochester on May 17, the Twins have used a hodgepodge of people at DH, including Danny Santana, Eduardo Nunez and Eduardo Escobar.

It makes sense to use the position to rotate Torii Hunter and Joe Mauer through to give them a little bit of a break. Hunter was the DH in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. But using middle infielders and utility players is not taking advantage of what the DH can do for a team.

The Twins entered Saturday with a slugging percentage of .328 from the position, 13th in the AL. Their three homers were 14th. So were their seven doubles.

They would like to add a DH, but their bullpen has been worked hard lately and they had to start reliever J.R. Graham on Saturday.

“It’s been challenging,” manager Paul Molitor said of how he has had to handle the position. “It is kind of where we are at right now, especially with our hands being forced to use our bullpen. We need depth. We are a little limited on the bench, so we have to rendezvous through the DH and the middle of the lineup for now.”

Vargas entered Saturday batting .326 with three homers and eight RBI in 14 games since being sent down. The Twins want to see him take consistently good at-bats.

Catcher Josmil Pinto could be an option, but he has cooled off after a hot start at Rochester and was batting .247 with six home runs and 24 RBI.

Outfielder Danny Ortiz, not considered to be a top prospect, was batting .285 with seven homers and 34 RBI.

Eventually, the Twins will decide to go back to a 12-man pitching staff and bring up someone who can provide some punch in the lineup. But they have been carrying 13 pitchers on their roster for more than two weeks now.

“We’re looking for people to come up and help us,” Molitor said, “but I don’t think anyone is jumping out at us right now.”

Waiting for the surge

Kurt Suzuki was not in the starting lineup Saturday as Molitor opted to give his starting catcher a break. He pinch hit in the ninth inning but grounded into a game-ending double play, dropping his batting average to .245 with two homers and 15 RBI.

“He’s one of those guys who hasn’t really found his groove the first third of the season,” Molitor said. “He was working hard around the cage in Boston, trying to find that feel he had the majority of last year.”

A lot of things clicked for Suzuki in 2014, when he hit .288 with three homers and 61 RBI and played in his first All-Star Game.

Though his numbers statistics are down, he has remained a reliable bat with runners in scoring position, hitting .297.

“He’s best when he’s hitting the ball up the middle and right field every once in a while,” Molitor said. “He’s going to pull to keep you honest. Hopefully he’s getting on track. I think the one thing you can almost guarantee is that he’s going to put together a good at-bat. You can’t control outcomes all the time, but I know he’s got a plan.”

Etc.

• Righthander Ricky Nolasco took a cortisone shot in his injured right ankle. He is going to start a throwing program this week and build toward getting back on the mound. That’s when the Twins will find out if the shot worked or not. “I’m not sure we’re going to know until he throws a side session,” General Manager Terry Ryan said.

• Outfielder Jordan Schafer (right medial collateral ligament sprain) has started catching fly balls but still will be out for some time.

• Vikings first-round pick Trae Waynes threw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday. The cornerback, along with second-round pick Eric Kendricks, also took part in the softball challenge with T.C. Bear and Bernie Brewer. Kendricks belted five home runs to win the contest.

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Gomez leads Brewers attack over Twins

La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

Carlos Gomez.

The mere mention of his name can make a baseball fan laugh because of his antics on the field or grimace because the mistakes he still makes.

But he’s a two-time All-Star since being traded by the Twins for J. J. Hardy in 2009. There was good Gomez and bad Gomez at Target Field on Saturday, with the good Gomez fueling the Brewers to a 4-2 victory.

“They have bad luck,” Gomez said of his former team, “because every time I come here I feel really good at the plate.”

Gomez went 4-for-4 with three RBI. His two-run single in the seventh off Blaine Boyer broke a 1-1 tie and his RBI double in the ninth off Tim Stauffer restored Milwaukee’s two-run lead. Gomez is batting .369 in 24 games against the Twins and .400 (20-for-50) with 13 RBI in 13 games at Target Field.

“Obviously, I don’t want him to do it against our team too often,” Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe said, “but he’s fun to watch play.”

Gomez’s play has helped Milwaukee win the first two games of this series, the Twins’ first series loss at home since April 27-29 against Detroit. With an announced sellout crowd of 38,707, Twins fans had to endure “Let’s Go Brewers” chants for a second game in a row.

Bad Gomez owned the beginning of the game. He bunted starter J.R. Graham’s first pitch for a hit, then stole second. He immediately took off for third on Jonathan Lucroy’s line drive, but it went straight to Brian Dozier at second for a double play. The next batter, Ryan Braun, homered for a 1-0 Milwaukee lead.

More bad Gomez in the third. He singled to right, then took off when Lucroy singled. Gomez turned for third, then changed his mind. But right fielder Eddie Rosario smartly threw behind him and Gomez was tagged out trying to dive back to second.

“On the bases, he’s looking to do all of us a favor and speed the game up a little bit, which we all appreciate,” Braun said. “That’s how he plays the game. It’s all-out. There’s going to be some mistakes that are made on occasion, but he’s so much fun to watch.”

The Twins were worried about their pitching staff coming in, as Graham was making an emergency start. But the rookie got through four innings with only the one run. Ryan Pressly (3-2) pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth but was tagged with the loss after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh.

The bigger problem for the Twins was that their usually functional offense was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Former Twins righthander Matt Garza (4-7) gave up only one hit in the first four innings. In the fifth, the Twins loaded the bases with no out, but Aaron Hicks popped out on a hanging breaking ball for the first out. Danny Santana then fouled off seven pitches in an epic at-bat but grounded into a double play for only the third time all year.

The Twins finally broke through on Joe Mauer’s tying RBI single in the sixth. But Gomez struck back in the seventh with his two-run single on a slider that was below the strike zone. First base was open, but Twins manager Paul Molitor elected to pitch to Gomez. And Molitor went with his best setup man in Boyer despite Gomez batting .280 vs. righthanders as opposed to .200 vs. lefties.

“He’s so aggressive, you think you might have a chance to find a way to wiggle your way out of a jam,” Molitor said of Gomez. “[Boyer] threw a ball down in the zone, but it was in the middle and he was able to go down and hit it and get those couple runs in.”

Dozier homered in the eighth to make it 3-2, but Gomez responded with an RBI double in the ninth, taking advantage after Luis Sardinas reached on Plouffe’s two-out error.

“It’s nothing personal,” Gomez said. “I just have to play my game.”

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Chattanooga: Twins’ Grade A talent in AA town

Chip Scoggins | Star Tribune | June 6, 2015

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – The sign is framed by a black border and hangs conspicuously on a brick wall near the entrance to the Chattanooga Lookouts clubhouse.

Players can’t miss it.

“I see it every day,” Byron Buxton said, glancing toward the door. “It just motivates me and pushes me more and more every day to do my work.”

In a ballpark plastered with advertisements for local companies, one particular visual represents hope and maybe even a reality check to Twins minor leaguers who dream of a bigger stage.

ROAD TO THE SHOW, the sign reads.

Underneath is the name of each affiliate in the Twins organization, top to bottom, a professional ladder.

Lookouts players sit two rungs from their destination, a crop of highly touted prospects whom Twins fans have been eagerly tracking for several years.

Twins officials say they can’t recall ever having a minor league team with more elite talent.

“I wouldn’t argue with that at all,” said Chattanooga manager and former Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.

Buxton is the top-rated prospect in Major League Baseball and a generational talent who causes audible gasps in the crowd with his freakish speed on the bases and in the outfield.

Miguel Sano and pitcher Jose Berrios also are ranked among the best prospects in all of baseball.

Jorge Polanco could be the Twins’ starting shortstop next season. Outfielders Max Kepler and Adam Brett Walker II are opening eyes with their raw power. Three flamethrowers in the bullpen can reach triple digits on the radar gun.

“This is as good a baseball team as I’ve ever seen in minor leagues,” said Rich Mozingo, Lookouts president and general manager. “Position by position, I’ve never seen a team this talented, ever.”

Twins fans are flocking to southeast Tennessee to get a peek at that talent. Fans gather on a patio outside the clubhouse after games hoping for pictures or autographs, sometimes waiting for 30 minutes.

The gift shop at AT&T Field sells Buxton T-shirts, even though it’s unlikely he will spend the entire season with the team. The Lookouts gave Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig the same treatment in 2013 when the teams were affiliated.

“We don’t do it often,” Mozingo said, “but we’ve had some real special occasions here.”

Mozingo often speaks to downtown business groups, and his message remains constant: Don’t wait too long to catch these guys because they probably won’t be around long.

“They’re here to help the Minnesota Twins, and as soon as the Twins think they’re ready, they’re going to go up,” he said.

Twins fans traveling

The surprising start by the Twins this season has cooled talk of fast-tracking the top prospects to the majors. Besides, they are not ready yet, according to Mientkiewicz.

They are all still young and developing. Buxton is 21 years old, Berrios just turned 21 and Sano is 22.

“It’s harder now in today’s game to let a group of kids stay together because the instant they have success, everybody wants them to move,” Mientkiewicz said.

The anticipation for what’s coming through the pipeline isn’t going away. Mozingo noticed so many fans wearing Twins apparel at games that he called the local mall to see if anyone sells their hats or clothing.

“They’re coming from somewhere else,” he said. “These are true Twins fans coming to see their guys.”

Woodbury residents Scott Miller and Sue Brotherton are in that group. The two made a “scouting” trip to Chattanooga last week to watch several games.

“I think it’s exciting because of the [pitchers] and the power and Buxton’s speed,” Miller said after meeting players outside the clubhouse.

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Buxton leads the Class AA Southern League in triples (11 in just 52 games) and runs scored. He also has six home runs, including one inside-the-parker.

Walker leads the league in home runs, RBI, extra-base hits (and strikeouts) and is second in slugging percentage. Berrios leads all pitchers in strikeouts and is tied in wins. Polanco and Kepler are batting over .300.

“The talent is pretty special,” closer Zack Jones said. “When we put it together, it’s pretty cool.”

After four consecutive 90-loss seasons by the Twins, there is a belief that the organization is primed for a transformative rebirth because of their top prospects.

“I’ve heard the word ‘wave,’ that this is the new wave,” Kepler said. “I wish this team could stay together for as long as possible because it’s one big family.”

The core group has been together for several summers, winning the Florida State League championship last season for the first time in franchise history. The Lookouts own the second-best record (30-23) in the Southern League this season, despite a recent six-game losing streak.

A stress on winning

Minor league baseball revolves around player development, but Mientkiewicz constantly emphasizes the need to establish a winning culture within that framework. He believes organizational change can occur from the floor up.

“Winning is the most important element to creating the big-league culture that you expect to win every night,” he said. “If you lose in the minor leagues, you’re going to lose in the big leagues. The big leagues is a very hard place to learn how to win.”

Mientkiewicz’s managerial style reflects that purpose. He’s tough and demanding of players, refusing to allow their talent to supersede the larger goal.

“We’re going to teach these kids that, if I have a boo-boo, you’re going to get your butt up and play,” Mientkiewicz said. “We stress mentally, no matter what happens, nothing is going to derail me from what I’m trying to accomplish. Up until this level, it’s physical. Past this level, it’s mental.”

That’s why Mientkiewicz preaches patience in setting expectations and timelines for his elite prospects. All of them — Buxton included — need more seasoning before tackling the highest level of baseball.

More work needed

Mientkiewicz said Polanco is the most ready for a promotion “without question.” He looks more comfortable at shortstop now after switching from second base.

Buxton’s speed has been electric on the bases and in center field, but coaches would like to see him cut down on his strikeouts.

“I want more consistency at the plate,” Buxton said. “Just try to get on base a little bit more and put us in good positions to score.”

Sano has rediscovered his timing at the plate after missing all of last season because of Tommy John surgery. But he strikes out a lot and remains a work in progress at third base.

“He’s got a long ways to go,” Mientkiewicz said. “It’s both offensively and defensively. What he’s doing right now is not going to fly up there.”

Such as?

“It’s everything,” Mientkiewicz said. “It’s not a knock. I’m not trying to be negative. I’m just being realistic. When you miss a year, it takes a while.”

Sano admittedly tried too hard early in the season to make up for lost time. His coaches told him to relax and stop pressing.

“I’m not Superman,” Sano said.

Sano knows his ticket to the majors depends largely on his improvement in the field. He works daily on his agility and range.

Everything is a process, even for the best prospects.

“If I think too much about, ‘I need to play in the big leagues,’ I can lose my focus,” Sano said.

They will arrive in Minnesota in due time. Not all, of course, but some will complete that road to the show.

In the first meeting before this season, Mientkiewicz acknowledged the team’s collection of talent and then offered a challenge.

“We have expectations,” he told them. “We have expectations from each other, expectations from Baseball America, expectations from the fans of the Minnesota Twins and the Twin Cities. Now we’ll see what you’re made of.”

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Carlos Gomez has field day as Brewers beat Twins

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | June 6, 2015

"Go-Go" got his revenge.

Traded away by the Twins after the 2009 season, Carlos Gomez continues to make the most of this annual interleague opportunity. The excitable center fielder reached base five times Saturday afternoon, including a two-run single off Blaine Boyer in the eighth, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-2 win at Target Field.

"He's just a freak athlete," Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe said. "He knows he belongs here. As soon as he figured that out, that's when he took off."

Gomez, who also had two hits in a 10-5 win Friday night, went 4 for 4 with a walk and three runs batted in on Saturday. The four hits tied a career high for Gomez, who also was caught off second base twice in the early innings.

"He can do something special anytime he steps up to the plate, and the same thing when he's in the field," Plouffe said. "He can just make some play out of nowhere that's ridiculous. He's just got that kind of ability."

Adding to the retribution theme, Brewers right-hander Matt Garza worked the first seven innings against the team that traded him away after the 2007 season. Garza retired his first 11 batters and worked out of jams in the fifth and seventh as the Twins went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Brian Dozier led off the eighth against Jonathan Broxton with his 11th homer. Joe Mauer had tied the game at 1 with a one-out single off Garza in the sixth.

Playing before the second-largest home crowd this season (38,707), the Twins dropped just their second home series in nine tries. Their only other dropped home series came against the Detroit Tigers (April 27-29).

This is the second straight time the Twins have lost the first two games of a series, but the first time it has happened at home.

The Twins had a base open when Gomez came to the plate in a 1-1 tie in the seventh, but Twins manager Paul Molitor opted to pitch to him with Boyer, who had allowed a .328 average to righty batters. Gomez jumped on a first-pitch slider that was down in the zone and lined it over the head of shortstop Danny Santana on a drawn-in infield.

"He's as aggressive as anybody you'd want to see. He really attacks the baseball," Molitor said. "He's so aggressive you think you might have a chance to find a way to wriggle yourself out of a jam."

Entering Saturday, the Twins had issued just 11 intentional walks on the year, tied for 17th in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was half the total of the majors-leading Seattle Mariners.

"You're hoping (Gomez's) free swinging might allow you to get a strikeout or a groundball on the infield," Molitor said. "The design was to just try to get him to expand a little bit. We got him to expand down but not far enough away."

Gomez made the Twins pay.

"He's smart enough now, he has played long enough, he's had enough success to realize he's probably going to get something that's spinning," Molitor said. "He's not going to get a first-pitch fastball very often, at least that he can handle."

Molitor said he might have had Boyer put Gomez on base if he'd fallen behind 2-0 in the count, but with the dangerous Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun due up next he wanted to go right at Gomez.

Lucroy, the Brewers' all-star catcher who came off the disabled list Monday after missing six weeks with a broken toe, has grounded into double plays on 14 percent of his 439 career opportunities. The major league average is 11 percent, but Lucroy also is a career .292 hitter (.348 on-base percentage) with runners in scoring position.

"I'm not afraid of using (intentional walks)," Molitor said. "I don't like to do it unless I feel there's going to be a benefit. Yes, a double play is a potential, but also you just try to be smart about trying to get your outs and minimize the damage. I thought going after that guy (Gomez) was probably the best way to do it."

Lucroy entered Saturday hitting .206 in just 63 at-bats, but Braun put the Brewers up early with a solo homer in the first off rookie J.R. Graham, making his first career start.

Lucroy followed with a fly to center that would have been deep enough to score the go-ahead run anyway. Braun struck out to end the seventh.

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Twinsights: Encouraging start to bullpen experiment for Alex Meyer

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | June 6, 2015

How is that Alex Meyer bullpen experiment going down at Triple-A Rochester?

Pretty well, from what Twins reliever Casey Fien observed during a recent rehab stint.

According to Fien, former big-league catcher J.P. Arencibia, now with the Durham Bulls, stepped out of the batter’s box and made the sign of the cross after Meyer opened him with a sweeping spike curve for ball one.

“I had never seen that before,” Fien said with a laugh.

Meyer then pumped three straight 97-mph fastballs by Arencibia, who averaged 18 homers in the majors over the past four seasons.

Meyer worked just one inning that night (May 25), but subsequently has shined in outings of one out (strikeout) and seven outs on Wednesday at Lehigh Valley. Meyer struck out five while allowing one hit for the Red Wings in the latter outing.

So far in relief, Meyer entered Saturday’s play with 3 2/3 scoreless innings, two walks and eight strikeouts. That equates to a nine-inning strikeout rate of 19.62 for Meyer, who has faced 15 total batters in relief.

“I told Alex I was disappointed,” Fien said with a wry smile. “He only threw 95-97 (mph) when I was there. He said he wasn’t ready to cut it loose yet.”

Fien also had a positive report on slugging Kennys Vargas. Facing Baltimore Orioles right-hander Bud Norris during a rehab outing for the Norfolk Tides, Vargas crushed a ball from the left side that took one bounce and splashed into the Elizabeth River.

The May 22 blast, Vargas’ second that day, traveled an estimated 480 feet. Veteran employees at Harbor Park, which opened in 1993, could only remember two other balls that reached the river.

Jim Thome hit one. Sam Horn hit the other.

Since that homer, Vargas had gone 10 for 38 (.263) with 14 strikeouts, six walks and just three extra-base hits (one homer).

Twinsights: Ricky Nolasco receives cortisone shot in ankle

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | June 6, 2015

Twins right-hander Ricky Nolasco received a cortisone shot in his balky right ankle on Saturday morning.

He will rest a few more days before resuming a throwing program that will start with playing catch. The Twins won’t know for sure whether the shot achieved its aim until Nolasco climbs back on a bullpen mound in another 7-10 days.

“It will take a while, I think, for us to figure that out,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. “Probably when he throws in earnest. You have to let that thing work, then start ramping him back up.”

Briefly

–Double-A Chattanooga third baseman Miguel Sano remains day to day with a sore right index finger. Twins general manager Terry Ryan said Sano had not undergone further testing after being jammed twice in the same game. The Twins’ No. 2 overall prospect had missed five of the past eight games for the Lookouts, leaving early on Tuesday as well.

–Ryan said he had seen “a couple” of prospects in advance of this year’s draft, which starts Monday, but “not too many.” Those viewings likely came at recent pre-draft workouts at Target Field as Ryan said last weekend he had avoided seeing amateurs this draft season.

–The Twins have no interest in trading the No. 73 overall pick, which they received as part of the competitive-balance lottery. How much trade interest had other teams shown? “Not too much,” Ryan said.

–Lookouts center fielder Byron Buxton was caught stealing Friday night for just the second time in 18 attempts this year. Cubs catcher prospect Kyle Schwarber threw him out at second this year. Back on April 13, it was another former first-rounder, Justin O’Conner of the Tampa Bay Rays, who nabbed the speedy Buxton.

–Twins outfielder Jordan Schafer (knee), on the disabled list since May 16, has resumed taking fly balls during early work. Ryan said he was “encouraged” by that development but still had no timetable on a possible rehab assignment.

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–Five Cedar Rapids Kernels were selected to play in the Midwest League All-Star Game on June 23. In addition to starting first baseman Trey Vavra, currently on the disabled list with an ankle injury, right-handers Felix Jorge, Jared Wilson and Trevor Hildenberger and left-hander Cam Booser all were chosen by division managers.

Postgame Twinsights: Ryan Pressly pulls it together after horrible start

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | June 6, 2015

As Ryan Pressly’s nightmare was unfolding in Saturday’s fifth inning, Twins fans at Target Field began to grow restless.

Some booed as the Twins reliever walked three straight batters on 12 consecutive balls in a 1-0 game.

What was going on?

“(Matt) Garza’s landing spot was right where half of my foot was in his hole and the other half was hanging out,” said Pressly, who entered with just three walks in 15 outings (16 1/3 innings). “I had to overextend and I just couldn’t find the strike zone. It was just a bad situation.”

Twins pitching coach Neil Allen made a visit after the third walk, and Pressly snapped out of his funk well enough to secure five more outs. (Catcher Chris Herrmann had already helped him out by throwing out Shane Peterson following a leadoff walk.)

“It’s not like I was going out there trying to walk three people and trying to throw 12 straight balls,” Pressly said. “It’s one of those things, you just have to find a different spot on the mound. I tried doing that. I tried throwing on the other side (of the rubber), and it still didn’t work.

“I just had to figure out how to get out of it and I did. That’s what this game is all about is making adjustments. I thought I made a pretty good adjustment. I don’t want to get beat by walking somebody.”

Pressly (3-2), who later gave up leadoff singles to Adam Lind and Jean Segura and took the loss, could be seen pawing at the slope of the mound before his next two innings as well.

“I tried (to fix the mound) the best I could,” he said. “The mound was in pretty bad shape. I think (Tim Stauffer) slipped on it a little bit too. I wasn’t too excited about standing on that mound. It was pretty loose. I’m not blaming the mound or anything, but it’s really tough when it’s all breaking up by the sixth inning. It’s a pretty bad environment.”

Did Pressly consider calling out the grounds crew to fix the the mound on a muggy, overcast day?

“I don’t know how that would have worked out,” said Pressly, a third-year big leaguer. “I’ve never done that before. I’m not that kind of guy that’s going to go out there and ask the grounds crew to come manicure the mound for me. That’s not me. I don’t want any excuses.”

Isn’t a slippery mound a potential injury threat?

“That could happen on any pitch though,” he said. “I don’t think too much about that. Just a pretty bad circumstance. I made it through, got out of the inning and kept going.”

The key?

“I had to shorten up my stride,” he said. “When I did that, I lost a little bit of velocity. My curveball kind of flattened out a little bit. Didn’t really like it too much.”

–Stauffer, hurt by Trevor Plouffe’s fifth error with two down in the ninth, gave up a run-scoring double to Carlos Gomez but still struck out two (both on 89-mph fastballs) in the ninth.

The run was unearned, leaving Stauffer with a 6.60 ERA on the year. This marked just the second time he has worked back-to-back days for the Twins.

The other time came way back on April 16-17.

–Twins manager Paul Molitor said one option, with his bullpen depleted, would be to hold lefty starter Tommy Milone back in reserve on Sunday in case he’s needed in the game.

Sunday is Milone’s scheduled day to throw a bullpen session.

Don’t look for Pressly or fellow right-hander Blaine Boyer to be available Sunday for the series finale.

Casey Fien should be OK to pitch after being held back Saturday. Fien, who worked three of the previous four days, would only have been used in case of emergency, Molitor said.

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–Boyer and lefty Aaron Thompson made their 28th appearances of the season.

That moved them into the American League lead after starting the day tied with Twins closer Glen Perkins and three others: Junichi Tazawa (Boston), Marc Rzepczynski (Cleveland) and Dellin Betances (New York Yankees).

–Plouffe’s error gave the Twins nine errors as a team in their past eight games.

They have made 36 errors on the year, fourth-most in the league. Only the Yankees (42), Texas Rangers (49) and Oakland A’s (57) had made more entering Saturday’s play.

–Spot starter J.R. Graham has walked just one batter in his past 13 2/3 innings.

He needed just 63 pitches to work the first four innings Saturday and has now given up just one earned run in his past 10 2/3 innings, dating to May 17.

“We got out of him what we had hoped to,” Molitor said. “I wasn’t sure how long he was going to go. I’m sure he was excited, amped up a little bit with a lot of adrenaline.”

Graham hit 97-mph on the stadium radar gun twice, including a called third strike to Adam Lind that ended the third.

The Rule 5 pick who was plucked out of the Atlanta Braves system also hit 96 mph on the stadium gun 10 times. He threw 19 four-seam fastballs at 95 mph, plus an assortment of two-seamers at 93-94 mph.

“Definitely a big arm,” Molitor said before the game. “It’s mostly going to be power.”

All of it was pretty refreshing to watch from a Twins starter.

The entire 2014 Twins staff produced exactly one pitch at 97 mph or better all year: That came from Lester Oliveros, currently at Triple-A Rochester.

Twinsights: Ex-Twin Edgar Ibarra breaks through

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | June 6, 2015

It was a long road, but former Twins relief prospect Edgar Ibarra finally reached the majors this week with the Los Angeles Angeles.

Ibarra, who turned 26 last weekend, debuted with two scoreless innings and had a 2.25 earned run average before being demoted Saturday. The wiry left-hander with the low-90s fastball posted the same ERA in 24 innings at Triple-A Salt Lake, fanning 29.

“I’m really happy for him,” said Twins third-base coach Gene Glynn, who managed Ibarra at Triple-A Rochester for parts of the past two seasons. “He’s a great guy.”

And resilient, too, after dealing with a spot on his kidney that derailed his first season after being added to the 40-man roster in the winter of 2013-14. Ibarra made multiple trips to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in an effort to diagnose a problem that was initially termed Hepatitis B.

The condition was never life-threatening, but Ibarra still sagged to a 6.91 ERA in nine outings after being sent back to Double-A New Britain. Ibarra, who spent nine seasons in the Twins system after signing with them at age 17 out of Venezuela, eventually signed with the Angels as a minor-league free agent last winter.

“He handled it really well,” Glynn said, “the mental part of dealing with something physical and the unknown that something might be wrong. Anytime someone says, ‘Hey, you need to go to the Mayo Clinic to get it checked …’ You knew he was dealing with a lot last year when it came to that, but he continued to pitch. He always took the ball.”

Ibarra, who touches 94 mph with his fastball, had a career nine-inning strikeout rate of 7.95.

“He was a guy that everybody had high hopes for and believed he had the stuff to make it to the major leagues,” Glynn said. “He was a strong kid, too. You could just touch him, and he was like this chair. All those decisions are tough at the end.”

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Once a fan, Counsell now Molitor’s peer

Betsy Helfand | MLB.com | June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- Craig Counsell and Paul Molitor's relationship has taken many forms throughout the years.

As a kid, Counsell looked up to Molitor, an All-Star in Milwaukee. As time passed, they became peers.

This weekend, they're adversaries, managing against each other for the first time as the Brewers take on the Twins in Minneapolis.

"Somebody you know as a kid, somebody you looked up to as a kid, there's always a little different feeling, but we're adults now. We're doing the same job," Counsell said.

Counsell's team got the best of Molitor's Friday, as the Brewers won, 10-5. Before the game, the two new managers had a chance to catch up.

"We're both new at this. He's got 30 games on me, I guess, and he's got more life experience. That's a nice way of saying it," Counsell said with a laugh. "But we just shared some good memories as much as anything."

Those memories started at a young age for Counsell. With his father working in the Brewers' organization, he had an inside track to the players. The two families lived close to each other, and Counsell's dad was close to Molitor.

"I was around him a lot in his youth," Molitor said. "He was one of those guys when he had the opportunity to hang with his dad at the ballpark, he was going to be there. He was around a lot."

Counsell eventually went off to college and had a professional career of his own, but his time in his youth around the Brewers clearly made an impression.

"If you grew up in Milwaukee in the '80s, then you loved Paul Molitor. You loved Robin Yount. You loved Jim Gantner," Counsell said. "If you were a baseball fan, those were your guys. Those were the jerseys you wore. Those were the people you imitated. There's no question about it."

Counsell sported Molitor's number -- four -- at times during his playing career.

And though their careers diverged for a while, they both found their way into managing.

Molitor's path was more traditional, spending time in other coaching positions before taking the helm in Minnesota this season.

Counsell, on the other hand, joined the Brewers' front office after his playing career and jumped from there to the bench just over a month ago after the Brewers dismissed Ron Roenicke.

"He's probably smart enough to serve in a lot of roles in this game, but he's settled in for the challenge of managing," Molitor said.

And though the two are in opposite dugouts this weekend, they've enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect.

"It's a fun weekend for you," Counsell said. "It's fun to get a chance to compete against a guy like that."

Pelfrey, Fiers set to square off in finale at Target Field

Betsy Helfand | MLB.com | June 6, 2015

The Twins' taxed bullpen will look for a long outing from Mike Pelfrey, who is making his 11th start of the season, in Sunday's series finale against Mike Fiers and the Brewers, who are going for a sweep at Target Field.

Minnesota used five different relievers in the series opener against the Brewers on Friday. Saturday, the Twins went to the bullpen early. J.R. Graham, making his first career start, was limited to 63 pitches in four innings. They also played a doubleheader earlier in the week, contributing to slightly taxed arms. But the team has been rolling with 13 pitchers and plans to continue that for the time being, which has helped keep some of the arms fresh.

Fiers has recorded a 2.57 ERA over his last five starts. He has made one start in Minnesota, pitching seven innings and giving up just one run in a June 2012 game. He currently has a 0.90 ERA in two games against the Twins.

Three things to know about this game

• Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki had a day off Saturday, but he should be back in the lineup Sunday. Suzuki has logged the bulk of the minutes behind the plate for Minnesota this season.

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• Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura both carry nine-game hitting streaks into Sunday's series finale against Minnesota.

• Six of Pelfrey's last eight outings have been quality starts. He has a 2.20 ERA in that span, which encompasses nearly 50 innings.

Molitor, Twins sticking with 13 pitchers for now

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins manager Paul Molitor said he continues to discuss the roster with general manager Terry Ryan, as the club has had a 13-man pitching staff since May 22.

Outfielder Oswaldo Arcia was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday, but he was immediately optioned to Triple-A Rochester, as the Twins decided to stick with eight relievers. Molitor said it makes sense in the short-term after the doubleheader in Boston on Wednesday, and the fact they're using Rule 5 Draft pick J.R. Graham in a spot start on Saturday.

"It's been challenging," Molitor said. "It's kind of where we're at right now. We're limited on the bench and so we've had to rendezvous with the DH and the middle of the lineup right now. Terry and I keep talking about timing and when to try to do things. We're looking for people to come up here and help us, but I don't think anyone is jumping out at us right now."

Arcia has struggled to find his swing at Triple-A, as he's hitting just .091 (2-for-22) in seven games. First baseman/designated hitter Kennys Vargas, who was optioned to Rochester on May 17, has strong overall numbers at Triple-A, hitting .326/.407/.565 with three homers in 14 games, but has struggled a bit recently. He's hitting .240 with one extra-base hit in his last nine games.

They remain the top candidates to be brought back up, but the Twins are looking for more consistency out of both of them.

• Right-hander Ricky Nolasco had a cortisone shot in his right ankle on Saturday, Ryan said. Nolasco was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right ankle impingement on Thursday.

• Outfielder Jordan Schafer, on the DL retroactive to May 11 with an MCL sprain in his right knee, has progressed to taking fly balls in the outfield.

"He's getting better," Ryan said. "But I don't think there's a timetable. But I'm encouraged because I've seen him out on the diamond taking fly balls. So it's a good start."

Dozier goes deep, but Twins fall short vs. Crew

Rhett Bollinger and Betsy Helfand | MLB.com | June 6, 2015 MINNEAPOLIS -- A pair of ex-Twins hurt their former club, as right-hander Matt Garza tossed seven strong innings and Carlos Gomez went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, including a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh, to help lead the Brewers to a 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon at Target Field.

Garza, who entered with a 5.52 ERA, was sharp, as he gave up just one run on six hits. He pitched his way out of several jams, and gave up his only run on a game-tying RBI single to Joe Mauer in the sixth. The Twins scored again in the eighth on a solo shot from Brian Dozier off reliever Jonathan Broxton, but it wasn't enough with Francisco Rodriguez pitching a scoreless ninth to get his 10th save of the year and 358th of his career, putting him in a tie with Troy Percival for ninth on the all-time saves list.

"When I needed to make big pitches, I did and I didn't think twice about them. I went with what I wanted to throw and it turned out to be successful," Garza said.

After playing in a doubleheader in Boston on Wednesday, Minnesota went with a bullpen day with Rule 5 Draft pick J.R. Graham making his first career start. Graham gave up one run over four innings, with the lone run coming on a solo blast from Ryan Braun in the first inning. Blaine Boyer gave up the go-ahead single to Gomez in the seventh, but one run was charged to Ryan Pressly and the other to Aaron Thompson. Gomez added an insurance run with an RBI double in the ninth off Tim Stauffer.

"He's as aggressive as anyone you see and really attacks the baseball," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "When Boyer came in, he's so aggressive you hope you can find a way to wriggle your way out of a jam, but he threw the ball down out of the zone but it was in the middle and he was able to hit to bring those couple of runs in."

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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Gomez grabs the lead: After a single, walk and sacrifice bunt to begin the seventh inning, Molitor went to trusted reliever Boyer. But Boyer couldn't retire Gomez, who laced the first pitch he saw -- a slider -- into the outfield, driving in Jean Segura and Jason Rogers and giving the Brewers a two-run lead. Gomez ended the day with four hits.

"They have bad luck because every time I come here, I feel really good at the plate," Gomez said about facing his former team.

Twins leave bases loaded in fifth: After an error from Garza on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Chris Herrmann, the Twins had the bases loaded with nobody out. But they were unable to score, as Aaron Hicks popped out to second and Danny Santana grounded into a double play on the 10th pitch of his at-bat.

"Hicks' popup, I think he was just a little antsy to try to drive those runs home instead of being patient," Molitor said. "Danny had a really good battle and saw every pitch possible and fouled off I don't know how many. But then he does something he doesn't do frequently, and hits into a double play and it's the worst possible thing that could happen to us in that situation."

Braun returns: If there was a question of whether or not Braun's right thumb was OK after having a cryotherapy procedure earlier this week, he seemed to answer it in the first inning, crushing a 96-mph fastball. Braun had missed the Brewers' past two games, but finished with two hits on Saturday.

Dozier goes deep: Dozier made it a one-run game with a solo shot off Broxton to lead off the eighth. It was the team-leading 11th homer of the year for Dozier. But it was too little, too late for the Twins, who went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

QUOTABLE "I thought it was pretty good. I went out there and gave it everything I had. They decided to take the ball from me after the fourth, but I can't really complain. I thought I gave my team the best chance to win." -- Graham, on his first Major League start

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS With the loss, the Twins dropped their first series since losing two out of three to the Tigers from May 12-14.

REPLAY REVIEW With Segura at the plate with two outs in the fourth, Graham threw a pitch inside that was ruled a hit-by-pitch by home-plate umpire Toby Basner. But after a review, it was determined that it was a foul ball from Segura and the call was overturned. Segura went on to pop up to second to end the inning.

WHAT'S NEXT Brewers: Mike Fiers will take the ball for the Brewers as they close out their series in Minnesota on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. CT. Fiers is 2-5 with a 4.06 ERA on the season, but he has not given up more than two runs in each of his past five starts.

Twins: Right-hander Mike Pelfrey starts in the series finale for the Twins on Sunday afternoon. Pelfrey is coming off a strong start against the Red Sox, as he gave up just one run over seven innings to lower his season ERA to 2.59 in 10 outings.

Twins RISPy business spells tough series

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- Much of the Twins' success this season has been buoyed by their ability to come through in clutch situations with their offense and their bullpen.

But it wasn't the case on Saturday, as the Twins went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and the bullpen gave up three late runs in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers at Target Field. It handed the Twins their first series loss since dropping two of three against the Tigers from May 12-14.

The Twins couldn't come through with the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth, and also stranded Eddie Rosario at third base in the seventh. It came back to haunt them with Carlos Gomez connecting on a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth off Blaine Boyer and an RBI double off Tim Stauffer in the ninth after an error from Trevor Plouffe.

"We haven't been doing too well situationally of late, which is something we were excelling at for a while," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "But it's not uncommon where you're going to go through battles where you don't get the big hit when you need them."

Their biggest opportunity to cash in against Brewers right-hander Matt Garza came in the fifth after Garza didn't field a bunt from Chris Herrmann to load the bases. But Aaron Hicks popped up to second on a breaking ball up in the zone before Danny Santana grounded into an inning-ending double play on the 10th pitch of his at-bat.

"Hicks' popup, I think he was just a little antsy to try to drive those runs home instead of being patient," Molitor said. "Danny had a really good

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battle and saw every pitch possible and fouled off I don't know how many. But then he does something he doesn't do frequently, and hits into a double play and it's the worst possible thing that could happen to us in that situation."

Joe Mauer was the lone Twins player to come through with a hit with runners in scoring position with an RBI single in the sixth to tie the game after a double from Brian Dozier. But the Brewers took the lead in the seventh, when Jean Segura led off with a single off Ryan Pressly before lefty Aaron Thompson walked Jason Rogers.

The Brewers moved over both runners with a sacrifice bunt, but the Twins elected to pitch to Gomez with reliever Boyer and it backfired. Gomez hit a first-pitch slider to left to bring home both runs and finished the day 4-for-4 with three RBIs against his former club.

"Everyone knows you have [Jonathan] Lucroy and [Ryan] Braun coming up with an open base, but you're hoping with his free swinging he strikes out or hits it on the infield," Molitor said. "The design was to get him to expand a little bit. We got him to expand down, but not far enough away."

Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: Graham’s start in ‘pen game, Go-Go’s big game

Derek Wetmore | 1500espn.com | June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins had grown accustomed to winning series but after Saturday's loss to the Milwaukee Brewers (20-36), Minnesota will need a win Sunday just to salvage one game. The Twins used a 'bullpen game' Saturday and dropped their second game in a row to the Brew Crew.

This column presents 5 thoughts from Saturday's game.

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1. J.R. Graham made a spot start Saturday as part of a bullpen day, with nobody in the starting rotation ready to make Saturday's start.

Mike Pelfrey would have been the best option, but he would have had to start on short rest.

Graham made it through 4 innings with his 63 pitches, and turned it over to his bullpen mates for the final 5 innings. Graham was OK in his start, and he might have met the tempered expectations. He allowed six hits, but gave up just one run - a solo home run to Ryan Braun - and didn't walk a batter.

The goal was to go as deep as possible into the game, so as not to overly tax the rest of the bullpen and limit the unit's availability the next couple games.

After a rough patch in the middle of April that had the Twins' essentially hiding Graham, the rookie has been much better lately. He'll more than likely be on the roster all season, because as a Rule 5 pickup, he'd have to go through waivers and be offered back to the Atlanta Braves before he could be sent to the minors. In his two outings before the spot start, Graham had pitched a total of 6 innings, with six strikeouts and one walk, without allowing an earned run. He hasn't been used all that often - those two starts I'm referencing came May 20 in Pittsburgh and May 31 against Toronto.

"We got out of him what we had hoped to," manager Paul Molitor said. "They hit some balls hard but he got through four innings and gave us a chance, coming out of the game with only a one-run deficit. I'm sure he was excited and amped up a little bit - a lot of adrenaline. But we'll take the four innings, one run."

All things considered, Saturday was not a bad start for Graham. But there's no questioning the day was taxing for the bullpen.

"I'd say it was a good step in the right direction from the beginning of the season," Graham said, who noted that he was able to slow down the game rather than get over-amped in his nerves. "I think it's just something that Eddie [Guardado] has really taught me. Just slow the game down and if I need to step off [the rubber], I need to keep telling myself that pretty much every pitch. ... That's been a big focus this past couple months."

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2. Ryan Braun made his presence known early with a solo home run as returned to the Brewers lineup after missing a pair of games to treat his ailing right thumb.

Braun reportedly had cryotherapy this offseason, and he had a follow-up procedure this week. It's basically using very low temperatures to treat the nerves in his thumb, according to media reports.

Braun entered the game batting .258/.332/.489. While his average and on-base percentage are down the past two seasons, he's still offering the power. His solo shot to the grass berm in front of the batter's eye in center field off Graham was his 13th long ball of the season.

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That was the only damage against Graham, and it came on a 96 mph fastball. Graham always has the big fastball, but what has impressed some with the Twins about the reliever's future are the pitches he can pair with that fastball. The Twins really like his slider and say he has a good feel for his changeup.

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3. Eddie Rosario and Danny Santana picked up an extra out in the field by being more alert than former Twin and current Brewers center fielder, Carlos Gomez. Gomez had singled his way aboard in the third inning against Graham. Then Jonathan Lucroy followed with a single to right field, where Rosario fielded it.

Gomez ran to second base and rounded it, as if to bluff that he would run to third base. But he strayed too far in his bluff and Rosario saw an opportunity.

Danny Santana was off the bag toward third base, but he saw how far Gomez had rounded the bag and sprinted for second. Rosario hit Santana on the run with a throw and Santana put the tag on Gomez before either player got back to second.

It wasn't particularly surprising to see Gomez make a headscratching play, but credit the two Twins fielders for sensing it and taking advantage of the over-zealous base running maneuver.

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4. The Twins wasted a prime scoring opportunity in the fifth inning with the bottom of the lineup. And Brian Dozier was the only scoring the Twins mustered; he scored after a leadoff double in the sixth inning and hit a solo home run in the eighth.

In the fifth, the Twins loaded the bases with back-to-back singles from Torii Hunter and Eddie Rosario. Then Chris Herrmann dropped down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt and starter Matt Garza couldn't make the play to first base, so Herrmann was safe and the Twins had the bases loaded with nobody out.

But they stranded all three runners and left the inning still trailing, 1-0.

Aaron Hicks popped out and then Danny Santana - who has struggled this season - worked a 10-pitch at-bat. But then the worst-case scenario unfolded, as the speedy Santana grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Santana had more than 600 Major League plate appearances entering Saturday and had grounded into just five double plays. Number 6 came at an unfortunate time for the Twins.

"We haven't been doing too well situationally as of late, something that we were excelling at for a while," Molitor said. "That's not uncommon that you're going to go through battles when you have trouble getting the big hits when you need them."

"[Santana] hits into a double play, probably the worst thing that could happen in that situation," Molitor said.

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5. Carlos Gomez had an interesting game, which included driving in the winning run in the seventh off Blaine Boyer. He went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a walk, but the big blow came in that seventh inning.

Gomez got a first-pitch slider from Boyer that was low and well out of the strike zone, but he golfed it to the outfield to plate a pair of Brewers runs.

"You've got [Jonathan] Lucroy and [Ryan] Braun coming up. You're hoping [Gomez's] free-swinging might allow you to get a strikeout or a ground ball to the infield," Molitor said. "The design was to just try to get him to expand [his strike zone] a little bit. We got him to expand down but not far enough away. He's smart enough now, he's played long enough to realize he's probably going to get something that spinning, he's not going to get a first-pitch fastball very often. ... And he got it and drove it out to the gap."

That hit did in the Twins. Gomez also made the baserunning mistake [mentioned in thought No. 3] and overthrew second base when he had a chance to throw out Torii Hunter (who also had rounded the bag too far and was in danger of being picked off from the outfield). And when Brian Dozier caught a line drive in the first inning, Gomez was too far off the bag at second and Dozier walked over and touched the base to double up Gomez.

Even now, Gomez will make you scratch your head sometimes, but there's plenty of talent in there and he was a menace to the Twins on Saturday.

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Gomez reaches base 5 times as Brewers take second in a row from Twins

Associated Press | June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- Carlos Gomez went 4 for 4 with a walk, tormenting his former team again with three RBI over the last three innings to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Gomez hit a two-run tiebreaking single in the seventh and an RBI double in the ninth. Matt Garza (4-7) threw seven strong innings, Ryan Braun homered for the first time in 12 days and the Brewers handed the Twins their second straight loss at home for the first time this year in front of the second-largest crowd at Target Field this season.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a hitless ninth for his 10th save in 10 tries after Brian Dozier hit his 11th homer for the Twins off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth.

Ryan Pressly (3-2) avoided allowing any runs despite throwing 12 straight balls to start the fifth, but he gave up a leadoff single to Jean Segura in the seventh.

Gomez smacked the first pitch from Blaine Boyer, the third reliever of the inning, into center field to put the Brewers up 3-1.

This was Gomez's first four-hit game in more than a full year. He could have done even more damage had he not been thrown out twice on the bases.

Braun missed the game on Wednesday for a procedure designed to reduce inflammation in the joint, a similar remedy to what he tried after last season. He was held out on Friday, too. Since that game on Memorial Day when he last went deep, Braun was just 6 for 31 with two RBI and one extra-base hit until he stepped in against J.R. Graham.

The 2011 National League MVP Award winner drove a 1-2 fastball from Graham into the grassy berm behind center field in the first inning, and another runner didn't cross the plate again until Joe Mauer drove in Brian Dozier with the tying single for the Twins in the sixth.

Garza, the first-round draft pick by the Twins in 2005, threw five shutout innings in relief for the win in Milwaukee's 17-inning victory over Arizona last Sunday. He retired the first 11 batters he faced until Mauer beat out an infield single when shortstop Segura took his time with the throw to first.

Garza let a sacrifice bunt try slide under his glove for an error in the fifth inning to load the bases with nobody out, but he escaped without a run by getting Aaron Hicks to pop out and Danny Santana to ground into a double play. Santana, who batted .319 last year as a rookie, has one hit in his last 21 at-bats to drop his average to .219.

Graham never pitched above Double-A prior to this season in the Atlanta organization but, as a Rule 5 draft pick, the Twins must keep him on the major league roster all year or offer him back to the Braves.

Minnesota has gradually brought him into more meaningful situations, and with a void in the rotation due to a doubleheader in Boston this week and another injury to Ricky Nolasco, the 25-year-old got his biggest assignment yet with his first major league start.

Graham threw 63 pitches in four innings, allowing six hits without a walk while striking out three.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Brewers: Braun's absence from the lineup on Friday was more precautionary on manager Craig Counsell's part. "I want him the closest to 100 percent we can get him. If it costs us a couple of games over the long term, that's the best way to do it," Counsell said.

Twins: Nolasco had the cortisone shot in his right ankle to relieve discomfort from a bone fragment, but general manager Terry Ryan said the effect of the injection on the right-hander's recovery won't be clear until he begins throwing next week.

UP NEXT

Mike Fiers (2-5, 4.06 ERA) will pitch for the Brewers in the series finale on Sunday with Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 2.59 ERA) taking the mound for the Twins. Fiers is coming off his best start of the season, six scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory at St. Louis with six baserunners allowed and six strikeouts. Pelfrey has allowed only three runs over his last three starts, spanning 20 innings.

18

Graham gleans confidence from spot start, despite Twins loss

Tyler Mason | Fox Sports North | June 6, 2015

NNEAPOLIS -- Whenever a team has a bullpen game -- meaning a reliever makes a spot start and the rest of the bullpen backs him up -- it's always a roll of the dice. The reliever may get shelled in the first inning, or he may get deeper into the game than initially expected.

Twins right-hander J.R. Graham's outing Saturday against the Brewers fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. The hard-throwing Rule 5 pick made his first career big-league start as Minnesota needed a spot starter for Saturday's game. Graham fit the bill as a former starter in the minor leagues.

Graham gave the Twins four innings and allowed just one run in the process. He kept his team in the game and gave Minnesota a chance to win. Unfortunately for he and the Twins, the bullpen couldn't contain the Brewers as Milwaukee took the second game of the series by a 4-2 final.

It's hard to fault Graham for the way things went Saturday. The only run he allowed came on a first-inning fastball he grooved to Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun, who crushed it for a solo homer. Other than that, Graham's first career start was a decent one, albeit brief.

"We got out of him what we had hoped to," said Twins manager Paul Molitor. "I wasn't sure how long he was going to go. They got the home run there by Braun in the first inning and hit some balls hard, but he got through four innings and gave us a chance, coming out of the game with a 1-0 deficit. Overall, I'm sure he was excited and amped up a little bit."

Graham is in his first season with the Twins after they took him from the Braves in the Rule 5 draft. As such, he has to stay on Minnesota's 25-man roster for the entire season or else the Twins have to offer him back to Atlanta. Minnesota has tried to protect Graham at times already this year by not exposing him in high-leverage situations.

As a minor leaguer in the Braves' system, Graham was almost exclusively a starter until the latter part of the 2014 season when he was transitioned to a bullpen role. As of late the Twins have used him in multi-inning outings, including three innings in each of his last two appearances prior to Saturday.

Graham admitted to having some nerves before his first big-league start but insisted he tried to approach it just like any other relief outing.

"Before the game, I was kind of trying to figure out when to start stretching and start throwing," Graham said. "I talked to (pitching coach) Neil (Allen) and he said, 'Don't treat it any differently. You're coming in from the bullpen, except you don't actually have to jog in from the bullpen. You come from the dugout.'"

Graham did get into some trouble in the third inning but was aided by a base-running blunder by Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez, who was thrown out at second base after rounding the bag too far on a single by Jonathan Lucroy. A two-out single by Braun gave the Brewers two baserunners, but Graham struck out Adam Lind looking to end the inning. It was one of Graham's three strikeouts in his four innings, as he also fanned Aramis Ramirez and Shane Peterson.

By the time Graham completed a 1-2-3 fourth inning, his pitch count was at 63. Molitor initially said Graham might have the chance to throw 70 to 75 pitches but opted to replace Graham with right-hander Ryan Pressly in the fifth inning.

That didn't start so well for Pressly, who walked the first three batters he faced on 12 pitches. But Pressly eventually settled down and got out of the fifth inning without allowing a run. After the game, Molitor stood by his decision to take Graham out after just four innings of work.

"We talked about it briefly. There were some balls hit pretty hard in the fourth," Molitor said. "I think he probably could have tried one more inning, but looking at what we had available and a one-run deficit, I wanted to start Pressly off with a clean inning -- which didn't start particularly clean. But 1-0, I was ready to turn it over."

Graham exited the game with the Twins trailing by a run. Minnesota tied it in the bottom of the sixth on a base hit by Joe Mauer. The Twins' bullpen surrendered three more runs after that, though, and Graham's short-but-effective start eventually became an afterthought.

Though Graham will now return to the bullpen, he'll do so with a bit more confidence. He now has more than two months of big-league experience under his belt, and as of Saturday that includes a start.

"I tried to slow the game down a little bit," Graham said. "I'd say it was a good step in the right direction from the beginning of the season."