--LF Jason Kubel had never hit for the cycle as a professional, and he wasn't thinking about it when he came to the plate in the eighth inning, he said. He already had a single, double and triple, but with the bases loaded and the Twins trailing by two, he was more intent upon tying the score. He did far more, unloading an upper deck grand slam to become the ninth Twin ever to hit for the cycle. He also collected his fifth career grand slam.
--RHP Jesse Crain, after allowing only one run in his first six appearances of the season, walked three batters and gave up four runs while retiring only one batter Friday. It's symptomatic of the bullpen's overuse, not anything wrong with Crain, manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I think Jesse just ran out of gas," Gardenhire said. "He pitched last night, and he's been out there a lot. We've worked those guys pretty hard already." --RHP Luis Ayala hasn't been using his sinker enough, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, but has been working on trusting the pitch more.
"He's got a really, really good sinker," Gardenhire said. "His bread and butter, especially with our infield like it is, should be the sinker. He's going to spin some on some guys, some sliders and so forth, but it shouldn't be about tricking them. It should be about going in there and getting them to roll over on the ball."
BY THE NUMBERS: 41 -- Temperature in Minneapolis at first pitch on opening day, the Twins' last inside the 70-degree comfort of the Metrodome. The Twins will have to live with several games in 40-degree weather, and worse, once they move into Target Field next April.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I (thought), 'Oh, (shoot), he did it again.' Then, seeing him run the bases, I remembered it counts for us this time. So it was kind of fun." -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, on watching 3B Joe Crede hit his first home run as a Twin in his old home park, Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field
