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Twins Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:25:29 PDT

Left-hander Brian Duensing didn't see his call up coming. In fact, when his phone rang Thursday morning, good news was not at all on his mind.

Duensing had driven from Rochester, N.Y., to Buffalo, N.Y., on Wednesday night to avoid an early-morning bus ride for the Class AAA Red Wings' game against Buffalo on Thursday. So when his phone rang, Duensing said he thought he might be in trouble for going on ahead of the team. Not so much.

Duensing was in the bullpen for Friday's game against Detroit, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said that once Duensing, who was a starter for Rochester, gets used to the quick warmups required for relief work, he'll be used in a variety of ways.

"We've got all kinds of options," Gardenhire said.

Baseball Today (AP)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:48:52 PDT

Three-run 16th gives Tigers victory over Twins (AP)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:09:56 PDT

Placido Polanco might have been the grittiest player on a night where several were in contention after 16 innings. The Detroit Tigers second basemen fouled a ball off his protective cup in the 14th inning, only to follow it up on the next pitch with an RBI single. He hit another run-scoring single in the 16th inning that put his team up for good in an 11-9 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday...

Twins' Slowey placed on DL with strained wrist (AP)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:13:30 PDT

Minnesota Twins right-hander Kevin Slowey was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained wrist following his start against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. Slowey, who was trying to become the majors' first 11-game winner, gave up a season-worst six runs on five hits in three innings in Minnesota's 11-9 loss in 16 innings.

APNewsBreak: Target Field to open April 12 (AP)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:36:45 PDT

Target Field has a target date. Outdoor baseball is tentatively set to return to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Minnesota Twins play their 2010 home opener against the Boston Red Sox. The date was contained in a draft schedule for next season that recently was sent to teams and revealed Friday to The Associated Press.

Power Rankings: Angels are ascending (Yahoo! Sports)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:49:00 PDT

The Dodgers and Red Sox continue to occupy the top two spots, but the other L.A. team is making a push.

Twins swap lefties in bullpen, Henn for Duensing (AP)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:13:43 PDT

The Minnesota Twins have made another move with their bullpen, bringing up Brian Duensing and sending down Sean Henn. The Twins said Thursday they will recall the left-handed Duensing from Triple-A Rochester before Friday's game against Detroit. The left-handed Henn was assigned to Rochester, where he'd been pitching before his contract was purchased on May 19.

Mauer's best rap is with a bat (Yahoo! Sports)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:09:00 PDT

Joe Mauer probably won't hit .400, but the hometown hero does everything else well … maybe even sing.

Mauer has 3 singles, leads Twins past Royals 5-1 (AP)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:06:50 PDT

Joe Mauer has enough hits to lead the major leagues in batting average. Soon, he'll have enough plate appearances. Mauer went 3-for-3 Wednesday in the Minnesota Twins' 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, raising his average to .392. He's eight plate appearances short of the 3.1 per game needed to qualify for the batting race.

Twins catcher Redmond leaves game (AP)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:37:52 PDT

Minnesota catcher Mike Redmond left the game against Kansas City in the fifth inning Wednesday after getting hit by a foul tip. The club said he was struck in the right forearm. X-rays were negative. He left the field with assistance after staying on the ground a few minutes. The Twins said he would be day to day.

KC catcher Olivo suspended 1 game for arguing (AP)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:10:40 PDT

Kansas City catcher Miguel Olivo has been suspended for one game for an animated argument with an umpire in Pittsburgh last Saturday. Olivo chose to serve the suspension on Wednesday, which left the Royals without an experienced backup catcher for their game against the Minnesota Twins. John Buck, the other catcher, is rehabbing a back injury.

Morneau's homer helps Twins beat Royals 2-1 (AP)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:38:54 PDT

One pitch after another, the Royals fouled back seemingly everything Scott Baker threw. Good pitches, bad pitches, pitches he was trying to let them hit: Foul! When it mattered most, Baker got the outs and the win. Justin Morneau homered for the third straight game and Baker labored through five tough innings, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over hapless Kansas City on Tuesday night.

We're Going Streaking! Hanley continues Hall of Fame head start (Yahoo! Sports)

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:54:03 PDT

Big League Stew goes through the quad and into the gymnasium to look at some of the hottest players in baseball...

Olivo, Hochevar lead KC to 4-2 win over Twins (AP)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:16:12 PDT

Miguel Olivo didn't think Luke Hochevar struggled. He didn't believe the Royals missed some early chances against Nick Blackburn. That triple he hit in the seventh inning? Single all the way. Either Olivo was being a contrarian or wasn't watching the same game as everyone else. Whatever it is, the guy sure did some damage to the Minnesota Twins.

Twins Gardenhire ejected against Royals (AP)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:13:54 PDT

Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been ejected in the sixth inning for arguing whether a ball hit Jason Kubel's foot in Monday night's game against Kansas City. With one out in the sixth, Kubel hit a grounder that appeared to hit his foot. Home plate umpire Larry Vanover ruled the ball fair and Royals first baseman Mike Jacobs made the put out at first.

Twins transfer $4 million to Target Field fund (AP)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:55:34 PDT

The Minnesota Twins moved $4 million into a debt service fund for Target Field after a rise in interest rates. "As part of our financing, we had some variable-rate bonds, and those interest rates have been higher than expected," Twins president Dave St. Peter said Monday. "We have the capacity to have that funded within the confines of our project." The Twins sold about $210...

AccuScore: Playoff shifts after week 12 (Yahoo! Sports)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:04:00 PDT

AccuScore uses past player performance statistics to describe how players perform under different environmental,...

Liriano, Morneau help Twins beat Cardinals 6-2 (AP)

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:48:36 PDT

Francisco Liriano pitched so well, his unsightly stats coming into the game must have been a typing mistake. The Minnesota left-hander worked seven strong innings backed by Justin Morneau's three-run, first-inning home run in the Twins' 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Liriano entered 3-8 with a 5.88 ERA but won his second straight starts during a turnaround June, and this...

Pujols, Cardinals batter Twins, Slowey 5-3 (AP)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:54:40 PDT

The Minnesota Twins successfully challenged Albert Pujols the night before. Then they tried it again. Pujols made them pay by lining two-run homers in his first two at-bats Sunday, doing most of the damage against Kevin Slowey in a 5-3 victory on Saturday. His crucial ninth-inning strikeout against Joe Nathan in a two-run loss the previous night was on his mind.

Perkins, Twins beat Cardinals 3-1 (AP)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:50:48 PDT

Another National League team got rude treatment from the Minnesota Twins. Glen Perkins worked seven innings of four-hit ball in 92-degree heat and Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer had key hits in a 3-1 victory over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. Joe Mauer was 1 for 2 with two walks and is batting .396 for the Twins, who are 38-37 overall but 11-5 in interleague play.

Power Rankings: Tigers jump five spots (Yahoo! Sports)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:02:00 PDT

The Yankees, Brewers, Phillies, Rangers and Mets dip. The Cardinals get a boost along with Detroit.

Span's big day leads Twins over Brewers 6-4 (AP)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:52:47 PDT

The Minnesota Twins probably wouldn't mind hanging around Milwaukee for a few more games. As interleague rivalries go, this one was pretty one-sided. Denard Span tripled, walked three times and scored three runs in his first game back from the disabled list, and the Twins extended their dominance over the Brewers with a 6-4 victory Thursday.

Twins' Punto will have MRI on sore ribs (AP)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:36:58 PDT

Minnesota Twins infielder Nick Punto has returned to Minneapolis and is scheduled to have an MRI on his sore ribs. The procedure is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Punto's ribs have been bothering him since he left Saturday's loss to Houston, but he played in the first game of this week's series in Milwaukee on Tuesday night and felt significant pain.