CAN DOZIER HIT 40? It might be time to ask that question. Twins second baseman blasted a three-run homer in the third inning on Friday and now has 33 home runs with 27 games left to play. Just doing some crazy math here. If he averages four plate appearances over the last 27 games, he'll need to hit a home run every 15.4 at bats to reach 40. He entered Friday averaging a homer every 15.8 at bats, so it's not out of reach. Dozier has hit 26 homers over his last 68 games. What a power surge. He's his the most homers by a second baseman since Dan Uggla hit 36 in 2011.
GIBSON BAFFLED: On Aug. 17, Kyle Gibson threw the first nine-inning complete game of his career in a victory over the Braves, using 115 pitches. He thought he had turned a corner at the time. Since then, nothing but detours as he failed to last at least six innings for the third straight outing. In 5.2 innings, Gibson gave up five runs on nine hits as he fell to 5-9 with a 5.31 ERA. ``It's been a frustrating run of events here for me," Gibson said. ``I'm not saying I'm going back to the drawing board, but it's gotten to the point where I'm like, man, I'm working as hard as I can. I'm not really reaping any benefits of it."
CALL UPS COMING: Heard tonight that John Ryan Murphy has been told he's headed to the Twin Cities. Expect callups to be announced tomorrow. My sleeper pick is infielder James Beresford. Heard he's got a shot. Kennys Vargas should get another chance too.
