The Latest Breaking News from Twins

We're at that time of the season where starters might be asked to pitch deeper in games just as often as relievers will be summoned earlier to keep deficits from getting out of hand.

MINNESOTA — About three hours before first pitch on Tuesday, Nick Gordon walloped a batting-practice gimme high into the cheap seats above right field, a blast so prodigious it got a reaction from his teammates surrounding the batting cage and some fans sitting nearby.

This was a historically fast offspeed pitch!

MINNEAPOLIS -- Most hitters thrive with the bases loaded, because pitchers become tentative, fearful of making mistakes. But this season, Gio Urshela is the exception, managing only one hit, a one-run single, in 11 such situations.

Late Saturday, after rain, lightning, high winds and perhaps locusts rapidly descended on Target Field, the Twins were one out away from losing for the seventh time in eight games.

Alas, the rest of the world has already forgotten those season-opening wins for Northwestern and Illinois.

MINNEAPOLIS — A rain delay Saturday iced the Twins game for almost an hour, but the later, the better, apparently.

MINNEAPOLIS — Not 24 hours before, Max Kepler embodied the Twins' frustration with their offensive slump.

HOUSTON — Framber Valdez leads the American League in innings pitched, and has delivered a quality start in a team-record 21 consecutive outings.

Rod Carew made it clear there is no love lost between himself and Arte Moreno, calling Tuesday's announcement that the Angels owner is exploring the possibility of selling the franchise "happy news," on Twitter, a development that gave him "renewed hope that my relationship with the Angels can be fully…

Come on, umps. Be better than this!