Couple of quick notes from the middle of the night:
— Paul Molitor admitted that Miguel Sano almost didn't get a chance to club the game's biggest hit, the double off the center field wall that set up the game-winning run. "In his previous at-bat, he was leading off [the ninth inning] against [reliever Bryan] Shaw, and he had 3-1 count," the Twins' manager said. "I was going to run for him if he got on base to start the inning. But it worked out that he got another at-bats, and he made it count."
— Molitor said he wasn't particularly happy with the umpires' decision to halt the game with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, but he understood it. "I thought that was a little bit strange. It didn't feel like [the rain] was picking up too much," Molitor said. But crew chief Larry Vanover "said he saw some people start to slip around the infield. He thought [for] safety issues, it was time to get the people off the field."
— Taylor Rogers gave up back-to-back hits when he entered the game in relief of Duffey, allowing a run to score, but he shrugged off Sano's dropped popup and retired the side with no further damage. "He did well. He stayed in control, and he was able to clean up the inning even after the dropped popup," the manager said. "He continues to throw well." Still, Rogers has allowed eight of the 12 runners he has inherited this year to score, about double the average rate in the AL.
— This was the third Twins game to end after midnight in July, and each one has been followed by a day game. So far, the Twins are 5-0 in those back-to-backs, with Sunday's 1:35 p.m. start to come.
