Twins blast "Little Red Corvette" from clubhouse after win

MILWAUKEE – Prince's "Purple Rain" played on the Miller Field PA as the Twins shook hands following the final out of their 8-1 victory on Thursday. "Little Red Corvette" was blasting out of the visitors clubhouse speakers as the players got dressed and ate dinner.

"It's a nice tribute," Molitor said.

None of the Twins had any personal interaction with the pop superstar, but all were mindful of what he meant to their adopted — or in Molitor's case, native — home.

"He means a lot to a lot of people around the world," the St. Paul native said. "I think we all listened to Purple Rain, saw the movie, [knew it was] filmed in Minneapolis. His song was kind of our theme song last year. No one likes to hear news of that sort."

He means "Little Red Corvette," the 1982 hit that Torii Hunter played as part of the Twins' post-victory dance parties last summer.

"Torii made all the rookies sing it," righthander Phil Hughes said.

"Everybody sang Little Red Corvette," second baseman Brian Dozier said. "I know a lot of his songs. I hate to see the news — I know a lot of people back in Minnesota have to be upset."

Byron Buxton was mired in a 1-for-14 slump when he chunked a little looper over the third baseman's head in the eighth inning Thursday. It didn't look like much — except to Buxton.

The rookie outfielder broke for first base at top speed and just kept going, rounding the bag and heading for second on his 140-foot blast.

"I don't think a lot of people thought 'double,' " Twins manager Paul Molitor said. Referring to MLB's Statcast tracking, he said, "He's got the fastest time to third, and now we're working on the fastest time to second."

He's got to be close, because the play at second base wasn't. Ryan Braun hurried in, scooped up the ball and tried to make a strong throw to second, but Buxton was already around first before he picked it up.

"You can't hesitate as a defensive player, because he's in a different caliber as far as speed," Molitor said. "It looked like [Braun] tried to do everything he could, but by the time he got to the ball, I looked over at first, and he was not going to stop. And he made it relatively easily, considering where he hit the ball."

Kurt Suzuki was so stunned by a foul ball that hit the side of his catcher's mask Wednesday, Molitor said, "he had a lot of numbness at the time. He said he couldn't feel the side of his face. … I think he said he blacked out, which is not good."

But after answering a series of questions from the team's training staff, satisfying the league's concussion protocol, he waved off further help and remained in the game. He only revealed what he went through to Molitor the next morning. The manager gave him Thursday off, not unusual for the day game after a night game.

"He takes a beating," Molitor said.

Taking a position

Molitor seemed to soften his position on Miguel Sano playing third base, saying if Trevor Plouffe was going to be on the disabled list longer than 15 days, he might consider giving his current right fielder a chance.