Sorry for the delay. We had some system issues last night, but we are back up and running!


PERKINS EJECTED: Yes, lefthander Glen Perkins was ejected from Wednesday's game after the final out for complaining to home plate umpire Dan Bellino about ball-strike calls earlier in the inning. Twins manager Paul Molitor said he thought Perkins was mad about a pitch to Chris Johnson that was called a ball, and it carried over. As Carlos Santana circled the bases during his home run, Perkins walked toward home plate to ask for a new ball and began having words with Bellino before turning and going back to the mound. Catcher Kurt Suzuki rushed out to talk with Belino as they walked back to home plate. Perkins got Yan Gomes to fly out on the next pitch, That's when Perkins could be seen barking at Bellino, leading to the ejection. Yes, players can be tossed after games. It happened to Denard Span years ago when he complained about a strike call for the final out in a game at Anaheim. Can they be thrown out in the shower? The parking lot? No. But players can be ejected at the end of games. Perkins will be fined.


HUGHES STEPS UP: The Twins needed a good outing from Phil Hughes and got five shutout innings from him. He was around the plate more than his last outing and his breaking looked sharper. He had to work a little bit. needing double play balls to get out of the second and fourth innings. But he looked more like the Hughes who won 16 games last season. He threw 66 pitches and should be able to push it to 80 his next outing. `` The resutls were better, execution-wise," Hughes said. ``I felt like I was better. I was getting the fastball into lefties a lot better. I was able to execute some breaking balls better. Comfortwise it was about the same, but I was able to execute and get zeroes."

HUNTER NOT MAD AT KLUBER: Torii Hunter was hit by a Corey Kluber pitch in the fourth inning and yelled a few words at Kluber. Hard to believe that Kluber went after Hunter there, since it loaded the bases. But Hunter was mad for a few moments before calming down. Bellino walked with him to first base, and Indians first baseman Carlos Santana cracked a couple jokes to lighten the mood. ``It hurt a little bit and I got a little angry," Hunter said. ``I know he probably wasn't trying to do that. He's a good guy. He probably was trying to pitch in. Whatever, it's over with. I've always had good conversations with him. I respect his game."

BONUS: THE TORII AWARDS: Before the game, Hunter handed out awards based on behavior during their postgame victory celebrations this season. The Torii Awards, they are called.
The awards - seriously, Hunter had trophies made for each winner:
Best New Dancer: Miguel Sano
Lifetime Acheivement in Smoothness: Eddie Rosario
Worst Dancer in a Not-So-Supporting Role: Mike Pelfrey
Most Creepy Dance Watcher: Glen Perkins
Best Surprise Dancer: Eduardo Escobar
Perfect Attendance: Trevor Plouffe
Best Dynamic Duo: Trevor May and Kyle Gibson
Best Dancer in a Supporting Role: Brian Dozier
Best Latin Dancer: Eduardo Nunez
Best All-Around Dancer: Shane Robinson


There was no red carpet show before the awards were given out during a team meeting prior to tonight's game.


``I missed out on the option of having Ryan O'Rourke sing the national anthem," Hunter said. ``It was a lot fo fun. We had a blast."