[Brananorama]

September 1st - September 6th
9/1/15 - Chicago White Sox (62-68) at Minnesota Twins (49-81)
Erik Johnson (1-4, 5.53) vs. Trevor May (9-10, 4.45) - Chicago 10, Minnesota 4
WP: Erik Johnson (2-4, 5.35) / LP: Trevor May (9-11, 4.63) / SV: Zach Duke (3, 4.03)
9/2/15 - Chicago White Sox (63-68) at Minnesota Twins (49-82)
Chris Sale (10-10, 3.77) vs. Jose Berrios (4-4, 5.34) - Chicago 2, Minnesota 3
WP: Brian Duensing (5-2, 3.33) / LP: Jake Petricka (3-2, 4.88) / SV: Casey Fien (7, 1.67)
9/3/15 - Chicago White Sox (63-69) at Minnesota Twins (50-82)
Hector Noesi (4-12, 5.67) vs. Ervin Santana (2-5, 5.11) - Chicago 4, Minnesota 14
WP: Ervin Santana (3-5, 5.19) / LP: Hector Noesi (4-13, 5.89)
9/4/15 - Minnesota Twins (51-82) at Houston Astros (67-67)
Tommy Milone (10-9, 2.98) vs. Dallas Keuchel (11-8, 3.77) - Minnesota 11, Houston 3
WP: Tommy Milone (11-9, 3.03) / LP: Dallas Keuchel (11-9, 3.99)
9/5/15 - Minnesota Twins (52-82) at Houston Astros (67-68)
Alex Meyer (0-4, 25.36) vs. Collin McHugh (8-7, 4.53) - Minnesota 9, Houston 4
WP: Alex Meyer (1-4, 17.50) / LP: Collin McHugh (8-8, 4.80)
9/6/15 - Minnesota Twins (53-82) at Houston Astros (67-69)
Trevor May (9-11, 4.63) vs. Asher Wojciechowski (1-5, 5.88) - Minnesota 8, Houston 5
WP: Hunter Strickland (1-0, 0.00) / LP: Luke Gregerson (7-8, 3.45) / SV: Casey Fien (8, 1.64)

Game One: First off, some notes. As you can see below, we made quite a few call-ups that reflect the players who made brief appearances with us throughout the season. Kennys Vargas hit his 25th homer, raised his average to .301, and hit in his 12th straight game. If not for Jose Abreu, he would CERTAINLY be the MVP, and I expect him to finish Top 3 in voting, at least -- Miggy might sneak into #2. Unfortunately, pitching didn’t show up today, although Hunter Strickland had a perfect Twins debut.
Game Two: Jose Berrios pitched admirably, striking out seven through seven innings and allowing just one run. Tyler Collins got his third hit of the night with a game-tying double on the other side of the stretch. The Twins finally took the lead on an RBI walk from Oswaldo Arcia, and Casey Fien closed out his seventh game.
Game Three: Looking to win the first series of September, Danny Santana drove home the first run with his 9th triple of the year -- tying him for the major-league lead -- and Kennys Vargas extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI double. The Twins then delivered with six in the sixth and cruised through to the end of a rout of the White Sox.
Game One: Josmil Pinto’s 6th homer of the year made it 4-1 in the second in the first game of the season at Minute Maid Park. Kurt Suzuki’s 9th homer made it 9-1 in the fifth. Kennys Vargas went hitless, his hitting streak ending at 14 -- but his batting average still sitting solidly at .300.
Game Two: It seems like every time we try to hit four wins in a row, we send our worst to the mound, and the same holds true for Alex Meyer, who’s been called up after being wholly awful in the bigs and mediocre in AAA. Do we have a bust on our hands? Might be too early to tell, but nothing’s been encouraging. Well, in Meyer’s first start since June 2nd: Oswaldo Arcia smacked his 20th and 21st homers of the year, surpassing his career high...Josmil Pinto went back-to-back with Ozzy, his 7th on the year...Aaron Hicks corked his 6th. As for Meyer? Seven innings, ten hits, four runs, a pair of K’s. Not the worst thing. What else isn’t the worst thing? FOUR IN A ROW! FOR MIKE YEO! FOUR IN A ROW! FOR MIKE YEO!
Game Three: So here’s the thing, Trevor May walked five in the first to raise his BB/9 to 4.3. He haaaaas to get that under control. Down 3-0 from an early point, the Twins rallied to tie it in the sixth but instantly gave the lead back to Houston, 5-3. The Twins would make it 5-4 and get the tying run to third in the ninth -- then go down to their last out -- then have the fifth and sixth scores walked in to even the ledger and take the lead, before adding on two more runs and getting a 2-K save from Casey Fien. What a roll we’re on!

September Callups:

• SP ALEX MEYER (AAA) /
• RP J.R. GRAHAM (AAA) / RP HUNTER STRICKLAND (AAA) / RP AARON THOMPSON (AAA)
• SS JORGE POLANCO (AAA) / LF TYLER COLLINS (AAA) Collins finished his year at AAA between Toledo and Rochester with a final line of .311/.386/.573 with 33 homers, 113 RBI, and 10 steals. SO STOKED FOR THIS KID! He’s profiling easily as our starting left fielder of next season.

This Week in the MLB:

• The Baltimore Orioles (46-89, 33 GB of Tampa Bay) have been eliminated from playoff contention.
• American League POTW: RF OSWALDO ARCIA (MIN) - (13-for-25, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R) Nice!
• National League POTW: RF MATT KEMP (SD) - (13-for-30, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 R)
• Power Rankings: 1. STL / 2. LAA / 3. TB / 24. MIN