Three leftovers from an interesting night at Target Field:
SWING AND A STRAIN: Oswaldo Arcia's fifth-inning home run off Max Scherzer was another tape-measure job, one of those that make you excited to see him do it again. Arcia must feel the same way, too, because he swung so hard an inning later, he hurt himself. Don't expect Arcia to be in the lineup on Tuesday, not after straining his back with what Ron Gardenhire described as "a pretty radical swing." Arcia came out of the game in the eighth, with Eduardo Nunez pinch-hitting for him. "Hopefully, it's not going to be too many days," Gardenhire said. "He said it's just a little strain. Obviously, we'll have to see how he is tomorrow."
'THERE'S NO STATEMENT': Torii Hunter is in his seventh post-Twins season, he left on good terms, and a championship is the most important thing on his mind these days. So he took no particular pleasure in victimizing his old team with his game-winning homer on Monday. "No, it means something because it's Septober," he said, using his new term for late-season baseball. "Septober baseball is awesome. There's no statement here. Every day, we're just trying to win." Same goes for the other side, where Ron Gardenhire remembers his All-Star outfielder fondly -- even when he beats the Twins. "He takes care of himself, he's in great shape, and he's gotten better and better over the years," Gardenhire said. "He's a lot smarter player now. He knows what he's looking for, and he's solid. Torii's always been that way. He's a winner, always has been a winner."
FIEN THE FILL-IN: Neither Glen Perkins nor Jared Burton were available in the Twins' bullpen Monday, Gardenhire said, after both pitched on Saturday and Sunday. So Casey Fien was the closer-du-jour, and while he never got a save situation, he was called upon to pitch the ninth inning of a tie game. Didn't work out so well. "It's frustrating. I wanted the ball, too," said Fien, a former Tiger. His downfall -- back-to-back homers to Hunter and Miguel Cabrera -- came because the sluggers capitalized on his strike-throwing tendencies. "They knew I was going to come in and attack, and it backfired on me here," said Fien, whose ERA is inching toward 4.00 after a solid first five months. "I'm not going to change my approach. I'm going to attack with my best stuff, throw strikes, and sometimes you're on the losing end."
