minnesota twins

WJON Radio/Townsquare Media of St. Cloud has come to an agreement on a 3-year contract extension with the Minnesota Twins to air the games in Central Minnesota. WJON has aired the Twins in St. Cloud for more than 30 years. The Twin Cities affiliate of the Twins will change in 2013 from KSTP AM 1500 to KTWN (96.3FM).

The Twins optioned shortstop Brian Dozier to triple-A Rochester and called up shortstop Pedro Florimon. Dozier is hitting .234 this season with 6 homeruns and 33 RBIs for the Twins. Florimon began the season at double-A and was hitting .251 with 3 homeruns and 27 RBIs at triple Rochester.

The Twins lost 8-4 to the Tigers Tuesday night. Brian Duensing threw 6 innings with 8 hits and 5 earned runs allowed to take the loss and drop to 2-8. Josh Willingham hit a 3-run homerun for the Twins. Willingham now has 30 homeruns setting a new single-season career high. Ben Revere was 2-5 with a run scored for Minneosta.

The Twins defeated Detroit 9-3 Monday night to end their 4-game losing streak. Darin Mastroianni went 3-5 with a homerun and 3 RBIs, Ryan Doumit was 3-4 with 2 runs scored including a 3-run homerun and both Joe Mauer and Jamey Carroll added 3 hits apiece. Sam Deduno threw 7 innings with 5 hits and 3 earned runs allowed to get the win and improve to 4-0.

The Twins have activated third baseman Trevor Plouffe from the 15-day disabled list and optioned infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka to triple-A Rochester. Plouffe was 0-8 in his rehab assigned at triple-A Rochester. Nishioka was 0-12 with 3 errors in his stint with the Twins last week. He played all 3 games against Cleveland but didn't play in the series against Tampa Bay over the weekend.

The Twins lost 7-3 in 10 innings at home to Tampa Bay and were sweep away in the 3-game series by the Rays. Tampa Bay scored 4 runs in the 10th inning. Alex Burnett allowed 1 hit, 2 walks and 3 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning to take the loss for the Twins. Jeff Keppinger drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout in the 10th inning. Scott Diamond started the game for the Twins and threw 7 innings with 8 hits and 3 earned runs allowed.

The Tampa Bay Rays downed the Twins 12-6 Friday night to begin a 3-game series. Cole DeVries allowed 7 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) in just 1 1/3 innings to take the loss. He drops to 2-3 and his ERA swells to 4.77. Joe Mauer went 3-4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI and Denard Span was 2-5 with 1 run scored.

The Twins start a 3-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field Friday night at 7:10, pregame on WJON at 6:40. Righthander Cole DeVries (2-2) gets the start on the mound for the Twins and righthander Jeremy Hellickson (6-7) gets the start for the Rays. Trevor Plouffe will reportedly take batting practice today but will likely need a rehab assignment before being activated from the disabled list.

Cleveland downed the Twins 6-2 in Cleveland Wednesday to salvage the final game of the 3-game series and snap their 11-game losing streak. Brian Duensing allowed 11 hits and 6 runs (4 earned) in 7 innings to take the loss and drop to 2-7. Justin Masterson threw 7 innings with 3 hits and 2 earned runs allowed to get the win. Alexi Casilla hit a 2-run homerun supplying the Twins with their only runs. Minnesota managed just 4 hits.

The Twins have handed the Cleveland Indians their 11th straight loss with a come from behind 7-5 win at Cleveland Tuesday night. Minnesota scored 3 runs in the 9th inning when trailing 5-4. Tsuyoshi Niskioka had the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 9th inning for the Twins. Ryan Doumit went 3-5 with a run scored, Brian Dozier was 2-5 with a run and 1 RBI and Jamey Carroll had 2 hits and a run scored for Minnesota.