Greetings from Target Field, where it is 80 degrees and sunny. It should be in the mid-70’s at first pitch and be that warm all night — a perfect day for baseball!
The Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers will play two games in Minneapolis, then travel to Wisconsin for two more. Twins manager Paul Molitor was drafted by the Brewers and played for them from 1978 to 1992. He finished his career with the Twins, playing from 1996 to 1998.
“It should be (a fun four days),” said Molitor. “You have to go back a long time to days where I had a chance to compete as a player, and seeing the crowds that do travel.
“The rivalry was maybe a little bit thicker, if you will, back in the days when the Brewers were in the American League. But it has found a way to sustain, even through the interleague setup.”
Today it’s Ervin Santana (R, 12-7, 3.28 ERA) vs. Brent Suter (L, 2-2, 3.04). Santana is coming off a complete game, his fifth of the year and has held down his spot as the ace of the Twins staff. Suter is a soft-tossing lefty that has pitched well for the Brewers since joining the rotation in mid-June.
“He’s not an overpowering guy, he won’t wow you with the gun, but he’s got a natural fastball,” said Molitor. “The lefties will see that sweeping breaking ball that he uses for a chase pitch, where the righties will see the more of a changeup as a secondary pitch.
“But he’s tough to run against. When he throws that little cutter at the top of the zone, then guys have trouble getting on top of it, so we’ll see how our guys do with it tonight.”
Brian Dozier is back in the lineup after having to leave yesterday’s game with an undisclosed illness. Miguel Sano remains out of the lineup with a hand injury.
“Brian is doing much better,” said Molitor. “He was feeling even better by the time the game ended yesterday, and that continued last night into today, so he’s good to go.”
As for Sano, his MRI and CAT scans came back negative, which is positive, but his left hand is still hurting due to being hit by multiple pitches this season.
“You get hit multiple times in the same area in your hand, and it has a chance to linger a little bit,” said Molitor. “I’m not sure exactly what he’s gonna try to get done today. I hope it’s a little bit more than yesterday, and he can ease himself back towards getting himself back in the regular lineup.”
Milwaukee counters with Ryan Braun in the two-hole and Eric Thames in the middle of the order.
“He’s gonna hit mistakes, and he hits them all over. He’s got plenty of power the other way, as well as pull power,” said Molitor.
“With all these guys, you try to figure out the most effective pitches to get ahead, and then expand where you can, and hopefully you get some takers.”
Remembering Don Baylor
Baseball lost two stars recently with the passing of Darren Daulton and Don Baylor. Baylor played for the Twins at the end of his career, joining the World Series-winning ’87 team at the trade deadline.
Baylor was a part of the AL Champion Boston Red Sox the year before and the AL Champion Oakland Athletics the year after before retiring in 1988 at the age of 39.
“These days aren’t good for a lot of people,” said Molitor. “You get Don and Darren passing, and I was around Don quite a bit, actually, through the years. Obviously way back you played against him in a divisional series back in ’82, and I remember his MVP performance in ’79.”
Molitor was with the Brewers in 1979 and ’82, and Baylor was with the then-California Angels. Baylor also had a brief stint as a coach with Milwaukee before managing the Colorado Rockies from 1993 to 1998.
“You try to summarize someone’s life and impact in a short stint, but usually comes up pretty hollow,” said Molitor. “I just have a lot of respect for the friendship that I was able to develop with Don, and it’s just a hard thing to endure. I’m praying for his family today, obviously.”
I’m covering tonight; Brandon will be back tomorrow. Follow us: @tschreier3 and @Brandon_Warne.
