Some extras from another quiet night, offensively, at Target Field:
Paul Molitor has been worried about his team's mental mistakes lately, particularly on the bases. The Twins gave him more fodder on Friday, both due to overaggressiveness.
Brian Dozier was thrown out in the first inning trying to stretch a single in the corner into a double, a mistake that the manager could forgive, since it came with two outs and appeared to be a double off the bat.
He sounded a little more dismayed by Ryan LaMarre's mistake in the sixth inning, short-circuiting what might have been a bigger rally against Texas starter Mike Minor. With Max Kepler on second base after a leadoff double, LaMarre drew a walk. When a pitch bounced past catcher Robinson Chirinos, Kepler immediately headed to third base. LaMarre, though, hesitated at first, then decided to run too late. He was caught in a rundown and thrown out.
"We've done that twice now — a pitch where the guy at second's got a good read. I get it when you're on first, you see the ball and you've got to see what the runner's doing at second, and if there's any hesitation on him, you go back to the base," Molitor said. "But you don't have to go. That's the whole thing. I talked to Ryan about it. He said he kind of lost the ball and [couldn't tell] how far away it was. When you're down four runs, if you're not sure, you'd better hold your ground."
XXX
Eduardo Escobar hit a couple of home runs in batting practice, then walked over to a group of fans, flexed his right biceps, and said, "You see? Strong."
So his bruised elbow clearly improved over night. Some stiffness remained, though, so Molitor decided to keep the third baseman on the bench another day.