Say this for Twins fans, they keep turning out. I had expected attendance to fall through the floor once the last-place Diamondbacks came to town, but there was a respectable crowd to watch the Twins clinch their fourth straight 90-loss season. Here are a few leftovers:
RUNNING ARIZONA: Kurt Suzuki has thrown out 25 percent of would-be basestealers this season, and he's only given up (along with the pitchers he's caught) 56 steals. So the Diamondbacks' speed was certainly noticeable on Monday night. Arizona became the first team all season to steal three bases in a game that Suzuki has caught. But not every base-stealing attempt was successful. For one thing, Suzuki threw out Jake Lamb in the sixth inning. In the Diamondbacks' five-run fifth inning, A.J. Pollock took off for second base with David Peralta at the plate. He was safe, but Peralta got in the way of the catcher as he threw. "The bat came back through the zone. It's automatic -- the hitter is out, and you've got to send the runner back," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, and home plate ump Gary Cederstrom ordered exactly that. "Suzuki took it right off the finger pretty good." Pollock didn't wait long for another chance, though; he stole second again on Ricky Nolasco's next pitch. And he trotted home one pitch after that, since Mark Trumbo belted it into the flower pots in right field.
RUNNING ON EMPTY: The rookies have been so good over the past two months, it's really noticeable when they're off their game. So it was Monday night, when Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia combined to go 0-for-12 with four strikeouts. Santana is now 2-for-18 over the past four games, with nine strikeouts. Vargas is 1-for-11 over his past three games, with four strikeouts. And Arcia is 0-for-11 with five strikeouts. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a feeling of school's-almost-out for that threesome, considering what a rush it's all been for them. They've got to be exhausted.
NEW ARMS, GOOD RESULTS: Some good work tonight by both bullpens, and the Twins have to be excited about what they saw. A.J. Achter, Lester Oliveros, Michael Tonkin and Ryan Pressly all pitched at least an inning, and while only Pressly had a 1-2-3 inning, all looked reasonably good. And only Pressly has any meaningful major-league experience, so this is the sort of work that could help the young pitchers develop. Achter gave up two hits, but pitched out of trouble. Oliveros gave up a leadoff double, but struck out Mark Trumbo and Miguel Montero to keep the run from scoring. And while Michael Tonkin gave up a run, the Twins conceded it on a ground out to short. All in all, the group of three September rookies and Pressly combined for 4 1/3 innings, and just one run, while striking out four.
