Twins notes: Hunter tweets, takes heat, then deletes

Twins outfielder Torii Hunter apologized Sunday after a statement he made on social media landed him in hot water.

Hunter watched Floyd Mayweather defeat Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night in one of the biggest fights in boxing history. Before the fight, he checked in on Twitter to post his thoughts.

"Don't let your emotions cloud ur judgment," Hunter wrote. "What Mayweather does in the ring is business. We he does outside the ring has nothing to do with me."

Mayweather has been convicted multiple times of domestic abuse, once serving 87 days in jail for misdemeanor battery (after felony battery charges were dropped as part of the deal). Hunter's comment did not go over well on social media, as Mayweather has many detractors because of his violent past.

It's not the first time Hunter has made controversial comments, In 2012, he was quoted saying it would be "difficult and uncomfortable" accepting a gay teammate, a comment he later said was taken out of context.

Bill Baer of NBCSports.com wrote: "So here's Torii Hunter summed up: who a man kisses in the privacy of his home is his business; men beating up women is none of his business."

The immediate backlash over the Mayweather comment led to another post from Hunter.

Both of the tweets were later deleted from his feed.

While sitting in front of his stall in the Twins clubhouse Sunday, Hunter said he was not referring to Mayweather's criminal past. He said he had been asked to predict who would win the fight, and he went with who he thinks is the better boxer.

"It don't make sense," said Hunter, who has never met Mayweather. "I have no idea where this is coming from. I wasn't even talking about that.

"I was talking about his life, his lifestyle, people being jealous of him. I wasn't even thinking about domestic violence. Of course I don't condone domestic violence. I've been married 19 years and I've never hit my wife and I never will."

Hunter said he couldn't believe the reaction over a tweet he felt was harmless.

He also indicated his days on Twitter might be over.

"Instagram only," he said.

With Tim Stauffer on the disabled list and Tommy Milone in the minors, the Twins really don't have a long reliever. When Mike Pelfrey began to pelt White Sox batters with pitches in the fourth inning Sunday, Twins manager Paul Molitor turned to righthander Ryan Pressly, who was called up Friday from Class AAA Rochester.

"It will probably change from day to day," Molitor said. "Pressly is probably one of the longer guys I would use early in a game right now. It could change day to day, depending on the score."

Pressly stepped up, retiring all eight batters he faced and getting the victory Sunday.