Greetings from Target Field, where it is about 55 degrees and overcast. There’s a 30 percent chance it will rain tonight and the temperature is not expected to change.
It’s Adalberto Mejia (L, 4-4, 4.07 ERA) vs. A.J. Griffin (R, 4-2, 5.77) tonight. Ervin Santana pitched a complete game last night — his fifth of the year — so the bullpen is fresh, but the Minnesota Twins went from buyers to sellers over the course of the West Coast road trip.
“Yeah, a lot has happened since we hit the road,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor. “It was easy to lose track, on that trip, that we played some good baseball at times. We didn’t finish games the way we had kind of been accustomed to through the first four months.”
Brian Dozier leads off today, with Miguel Sano, Joe Mauer and Eduardo Escobar making up the heart of the lineup:
Adrian Beltre, the newest member of the 3000 hit club, is batting cleanup for the Rangers tonight:
“I’m going to look forward to shaking his hand. Yeah,” said Molitor, who recorded his 3000th hit on September 16, 1996.
“I don’t know Adrian particularly well, we’ve had a couple of conversations along the way, but he’s always been very gracious, seems very aware of the history of the game and respects the people that have traversed through the game.
“I’m looking forward to [meeting him]. Try to stay away from his head, if I can.”
Bullpen turnover
The Twins laundering of Jaime Garica, who came over in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, made a start (which he won), and then was dealt to the New York Yankees, got all the attention, but Brandon Kintzler will be missed.
Not only did the former St. Paul Saint become the Twins closer this year, but he also was a mentor to young relievers like Taylor Rogers and Trevor Hildenberger.
“The fact that he had to go through what he did to get to the point of being a closer in this league, he was probably able to speak to these guys a lot about the various roles and set the bar high — you never know what can happen,” said Molitor.
“But it’s just like the other people that we’ve had, Matty’s still here and Breslow and all those guys, they’ve all … we have good young players that want to know about things, and they have some good resources to tap into.”
Resources that are going away by the day. Kintzler was dealt to the Washington Nationals. Craig Breslow, 36, was designated for assignment. And Matt Belisle, 37, could be traded before the Aug. 31 waiver trade deadline.
Injury updates
Trevor May played catch today.
Glen Perkins will pitch for the Fort Myers Miracle (Class A Advanced) tonight. “I assume it’s going to be just one inning, from what I’ve heard, again,” said Molitor. “If everything goes well, consideration is to try to get him to Chattanooga (Double-A) next week.”
He will be back in the Twin Cities for his charity 5K run on Sunday.
And Phil Hughes will likely have surgery.
“I think they are contemplating a surgery here somewhere in the short term, to address some of the issues that seem to be connected to symptoms for him,” said Molitor.
“It’s not 100 percent that that’s gonna happen, but I think that’s where it’s trending.”
Finally, Kyle Gibson will make the start Saturday. Brandon will be covering that game. Make sure to follow him (@Brandon_Warne). I’ll be covering tonight and be back Sunday (@tschreier3).
