Ron Gardenhire is not pleased - MLB

The Twins have been playing pretty poorly since clinching last week. Ron Gardenhire has noticed, and had this to say after last night’s loss to the Royals:

“Not a good game for our ballclub,” he said. “We didn’t pitch worth a
crap. We haven’t pitched worth a crap this whole trip. It’s not
acceptable. You have to do better. You can’t lose the edge.”

“We lollygag the ball around the infield. We lollygag our way down to first. We lollygag in and out of the dugout,” Gardenhire did not add, but totally should have.

I don’t know how you keep a team sharp when there’s two weeks between clinching and the first playoff game. Maybe Gardenhire doesn’t either, given that his team has had to play 163 games to make into the postseason last year and only won the division by a single game the previous time they made the playoffs in 2006. But he’s been here before. The Twins won the Central by 13.5 games in 2002 and comfortably again in 2004.

Overall, however, I have to think that health — as opposed to how well you do in mostly meaningless games against the Royals in the last week of the season — is most important to a playoff team this time of the year. My guess: the Twins will be just fine.

SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.