A trio of leftovers after a letdown of a night for Trevor May:
CATCHER CAN HIT: Both of them came after the Royals already had a lead, but Erik Kratz hit a pair of home runs Monday, one off Andrew Swarzak and one off Ryan Pressly. The first one, a seventh-inning line drive, amazed bench coach Terry Steinback. "I tip my hat to him. [It was a] broken bat," Steinbach said. "I don't think I've ever seen that in my career." It was a pinch-hit home run; Kratz was replacing Salvador Perez, who tweaked his right knee while running the bases. The injury to KC's all-star catcher was the story of the night for the Royals, but it appears he'll be OK; the removal was mostly precautionary. Kratz wasn't done, though, launching a towering home run in the ninth inning. The backup catcher has a Twins' tie, too, sort of: He was traded to the Royals, along with ex-Twin Liam Hendriks, by the Blue Jays a few weeks ago for another ex-Twin, infielder Danny Valencia.
HOME RUN HITTERS: Maybe it was the language barrier, but Oswaldo Arcia seemed to think I was serious when I asked him if he was aiming for the flag pole in right field. No, he said, just hit it out there anywhere. OK, but it was still an impressive shot, clanging off the pole and ricocheting to the left. Trevor Plouffe hit a long one, too, in the ninth inning, a three-run shot that closed the gap to 6-4 and briefly offered Twins fans some hope. But Royals manager Ned Yost responded by calling on closer Greg Holland, and he only needed seven pitches to finish off the Twins. The Twins have now hit 19 home runs in August, and 12 in the past eight games. They haven't hit more than 22 home runs in any month this season, and they have 13 games left to pass that mark.
A PAIR OF ROOKIES? Saturday's doubleheader figures to feature an odd juxtaposition in the Twins' pitching staff, if Yohan Pino is recalled from Rochester as the 26th man. If the Twins stay on rotation, Pino would pitch one game, and the pitcher who took his job will pitch the other. Pino pitched seven shutout innings Monday against Syracuse, while May was working his way through the Royals' lineup, giving up three runs in the fifth inning. The Twins are committed to the 24-year-old righthander and helping him develop into a major-league winner, but it would nevertheless be awkward if Pino outpitches May on Saturday.
