Three extras from the disappointing homestand finale for the Twins:
Joe Mauer knows what he needs to work on this winter: His dance moves. That's the message he received after being passed over for one of Torii Hunter's Torii Awards, handed out to the team's best dancers on Wednesday.
"Yeah, I'm a little bitter," Mauer joked. "I'll have to get in there a little bit more down the stretch."
Seriously, though, Mauer said those gold trophies were a good example of why he believes the Twins won't buckle under final-week postseason pressure. "That was one of the things I love about this clubhouse. They keep things light," Mauer said. "We've had some guys who have been in this position before — Torii, Ervin [Santana], some of the pitchers across the room. I think they're doing a good job trying to keep guys loose."
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It was a bad night for Kyle Gibson to turn in his shortest start of the season, shortest in fact since July 4, 2014. And you could tell that the timing of it bothered the third-year righthander, who definitely wants to be known as a pitcher the team can rely upon.
"Everybody in this locker room deserves better," Gibson said, shouldering the blame for Thursday's 6-3 loss. "In five days, I'll be prepared and will go out and give us a chance to win."
If so, he needs to conquer his strange habit of first-inning runs. After giving up Jason Kipnis' home run and Lonnie Chisenhall's two-run single, Gibson has now allowed 20 first-inning runs this season, by far the most on the Twins; in fact, only Phil Hughes and Trevor May have even reached double digits.
