Three quick extras after a memorable offensive explosion at Target Field:
Having done both in the space of two days really confirmed what Chris Gimenez always suspected: He's rather be a catcher trying to pitch than a hitter trying to hit that catcher.
"It's terrible. I don't enjoy that at all," said Gimenez, who pitched the ninth inning of Monday's loss, then batted against Mariners catcher Carlos Ruiz in the eighth inning of the Twins' win on Tuesday. "I'd much rather pitch. When you hit, it's no-win — either you've gotten a hit against a position player, no big deal, or a catcher has gotten you out."
Gimenez made the best of it, though, smacking a long fly ball off Ruiz into the left field corner. Ben Gamel jumped to catch it, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall and back onto the field, an easy double.
Paul Molitor could have left the play stand that way, but in the same way that Scott Servais double-checked a potential Nelson Cruz homer off Gimenez one night earlier, he asked umpires to review the play and see whether Gimenez's ball had cleared the fence. It hadn't.
Still, "I appreciate the gesture. A home run is a home run," Gimenez said. "He could have let it go, given the situation, but he didn't, and I appreciate that."
XXX
The game was played in temperatures near 90, and with humidity around 60 percent, a hot and sticky night to be playing for three hours. Especially with all that base running.
