(Originally posted on twinsandlosses.com)

As the saying goes: “April showers bring May flowers.”

They also bring two rainouts at Target Field in a matter of three days. Following the rain spell the Twins frolicked their merry way to four straight losses in ways that made you want to do a rain dance in your living room. Fun stats include: a team RISP ratio of 7-40 (17.5%), a team strikeout rate of 27% and Jared Burton generously giving a 12th inning homerun to Drew Butera. April showers should bring center field pine trees with them, not flowers.

That all-too-familiar feeling of “here we go again…” began to slowly creep in as lawn chairs and grills were pulled out of storage so Twins Territory could wait for the inevitable in comfort. Just when all hope seemed lost, Toto blessed the rains down in Minnesota and the Twins won two of three against the Orioles thanks to solid pitching, stingy defense and even a Joe Mauer opposite field three run homer (no, seriously, there’s video proof). The winning streak continued in Cleveland the following night as the pitching staff turned in a ten-inning shutout earning Gibson his third win, Perkins his eighth save and the Twins their “Back to .500” achievement badge.

In fact three different Twins players also earned new achievement badges last night at Jacob’s Field. I mean Progressive Field. Please excuse the slip-up I have the same problem with Camp Snoopy. I mean Nickelodeon Universe. Regardless, will the following Twin Scouts (I’m almost certain the Twins organization has a Boy Scout copycat that hands out badges to players based off achievement) please come up and receive your badges: Samuel Deduno, Danny Santana and Logan Darnell.

Samuel Deduno – “First Start of the Season” Badge

Still looking for his “First Win of the Season” badge, Sam didn’t do much to help himself earn it in the first two innings last night giving up four runs (three earned). He did settle down after his shaky start lasting five innings but he was his typical erratic self, recording his second balk of the season that equals his season total from last year in one-tenth the number of innings. Don’t get me wrong, the offense did Sammy no favors but when a third of your hits are RBI doubles you’re looking in the wrong cookbook for the recipe to success. Gardy had told the media before the game that his pitch count was going to be in the 75-80 range so seeing Deduno being pulled after 77 came as no surprise to anyone. Look for him to try and get his groove back in his second start against the red hot Tigers in Detroit this weekend. I know that sounds bad but just remember: Deduno is tied for 6th in American League in complete games.

Danny Santana – “First Major League Start” Badge

Yes I know his debut was technically Monday when he pinch ran and recorded his first hit but for the sake of the bit let’s go with it. Look, I even fixed the badge name. Anyways, Santana got his first experience in the field at shortstop and didn’t look half bad in the role. Known for being error prone he kept his composure on a nasty one hopper and also helped to turn a double play. He still looks a little Bambi-eyed at the plate however, going 0-3 with a strikeout and dropping his batting average from a legendary 1.000 to a run-of-the-mill .250. His speed, which he displayed in first career plate appearance reaching on an infield single, was just as advertised and almost reminiscent of Christian Guzman [insert Million Dollar Man sound effect here]. With such a small sample size it’s hard to judge what this 23 year old will really turn out to be but we’ve seen some upside.

Logan Darnell – “First Major League Appearance” Badge

Drafted by the Twins in 2010 from the University of Kentucky this twenty-five year old left handed hurler pitched three perfect innings of relief in his first taste of pro baseball. Sporting a good fastball (89-93mph), a changeup that dipped to 67mph and a curveball/slider combo in the mid 80s, his locations were well chosen and for the most part well executed. Darnell only needed 33 pitches to retire nine batters with a variety of infield singles, deep flyouts and a strikeout against Michael Brantley (3-2 count, fastball outside) utilizing his breaking balls very effectively. Just as with Santana, this is small sample size but we caught a glimpse of a face we could become very familiar with.

“Logan, Danny and Samuel, you have all entered Twin Scouts via a different paths. You have learned the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout Motto, Scout Sign, Salute and handshake. You have a clear goal and are taking the right path toward this goal. These scout Badges represent the first step towards achieving your career goals.”

-DM