Delmon Young showed a different side during the post-game presser when he was asked if his father, Larry, was at the game to see his grand slam and 5 RBI.

“Yeah, I wish my mom could have seen it, too,” Young said.

Young’s mother died early in the season after a battle with cancer. And you never know how that affects someone (full disclosure: my father died of lung cancer and my mother died of colon cancer). But the consensus among the working press is that Delmon has been a little more engaging as the season has gone on.

On the field, his bat has been a little more engaging too, and I’m sure the Twins will take any production they can get.

Joe Mauer: I asked Gardy after the game if Joe Mauer would catch or DH on Saturday.

“I know he was totally exhausted after this game,” Gardenhire said. “I’ll drive by and pick him up if I need to.”

Gardy said he was thinking, in the fifth inning, of pulling Mauer and Orlando Cabrera (who has a sore hamstring) if the Twins had a big lead in the seventh. “That didn’t happen,” Gardy said. 

Bullpen: The Twins could use seven strong innings from Nick Blackburn today because the bullpen can’t go through another game like Friday’s.

When asked if he was concerned about the bully, Gardy said: “Sure. It’s a day game, 3 p.m. game, so the recuperation time is a little less. Got a starter going on three days rest. There’s lots of concerns.

“But….you gotta win.  And we’re facing Greinke.”

Now includes a few quotes from Sano. 

The Gulf Coast League might be the place the hang out for awhile next year - if you like to follow prospects. The Twins intend to have three of their international bonus babies on their rookie league team there.

Shortstop Jorge Polanco, from the Dominican Republic, will be there after signing a $750,000 bonus in July. German outfielder Max Kepler, who signed for $775,000, is already attending South Fort Myers High School and is in line to play for the GCL team, too.

Joining them will be infielder Miguel Angel Sano, a 16-year old (0r 17…or 18?) who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds and has pleny of raw power. Sano (photo on right) is considered the jewel of the international crop and, on Wednesday, signed with the Twins for a bonus of $3.15 million, the second-largest bonus given to a Latin American prospect and most to a position player. (not counting Cubans).

“It was not so much about the money,” Sano said through an interpreter. “I’m just glad I signed with the Twins.”

Add these three players to a Twins’ draft class that’s led by University of Missouri righthander Kyle Gibson (who is scheduled to pitch two innings on Friday in his first time on the mound as a pro) and the Twins feel they had a pretty good year on the amateur front. 

The Twins, looking at their minor league system, realized that they had a lot of players who, on the 2-through-8 scouting scale, would end up as threes or fours.

“In order to be a contender, you have to have guys who are sixes, sevens and eights, the top of the scale,” said Mike Radcliff, the Twins’ senior vice president in charge of player personnel. You have to try to get the guys you think have a chance to be good.

“Sano. Kepler, Polanco, Gibson, all those guys, in our mind, have a chance.”

In order to get good prospects, the Twins had pony up the dough. And they have. After spending $7.1 million on the draft, they’re handing out $5.6 million in bonuses to international prospects.

Rob Plummer, Sano’s agent, said the Twins have been in contact with him and the family for about a year. Signing him was a matter of timing. Several teams were in on Sano, and Pittsburgh seemed to be his likely destination. But, based on this and this, things broke down between the family, the team and the agent.

Radcliff and the Twins Latin American scout, Fred Guerrero. kept in contact with the Sano camp, and it paid off when the Twins made their offer - along with the understanding that Plummer, could not shop it around. The Pirates likely would have topped the offer if they had been given the chance. Plummer gave the Twins a lot of credit, saying two days didn’t go by without someone checking in with him or the family. Guerrero, by the way, has known Sano since he was 13. “He gets along great with the whole family.

“People were expecting the amount to be over $4 million, and people assumed that I was just going to sign with Pittsburgh,” Sano said. “My dream was to play baseball. It wasn’t about a business.”

Another key: Twins ownership stepped up. Jim Pohlad was said to be as excited as anyone with the organization when told about Sano. “Let’s go get him,” Pohald said.

The deal is contingent on Sano getting a Visa. That process will begin next week when Sano goes to obtain a tourist Visa so he can come over next month for a physical. That’s not expected to be a problem. He’ll need a P-1 Visa to play in the U.S., which will be the big test for him, and the Twins, in the coming weeks.

The Twins are confident Sano will avoid any red flags. The Twins asked MLB to help verify his identity earlier this summer, and they feel they’ve done their due diligence. They hope the worst thing that could happen is that he’s 17 or 18 years old, and that won’t scare them off. “We are not concerned,” Radcliff said.

When you’re dealing with kids, you never know how a prospect will develop. But it’s better to spend the money now that to try to sign mediocre players for $6 million to fill holes on the major league team that the farm system couldn’t. The Twins deserve credit for being diligent, setting high goals and, finally, spending the cash to finish off what the scouts start.

“You can’t get in the game,” assistant GM Rob Antony said, “if you stay on the sidelines.”

They’ll be able to see some of their work pay off next spring training when the Gulf Coast League team reports for duty.

Based on how the pitch counts soared in the early innings, I expected to see a reliever enter the game by the sixth. But both starting pitchers manged to get to the seventh. Nick Blackburn allowed five baserunners over the first two innings but pulled himself together and retired the last 12 Tigers hitters he faced.

Blackburn has struggled to make in-game adjustments at times this year, but not on Tuesday. His breaking ball was a big weapon for him as the game went on and his sinker helped him get 11 ground ball outs. He hasn’t had that many in a game since July 10.

He threw 111 pitches, tying a season high - but he hadn’t thrown that many since May.

The Twins expected Blackburn to take a step forward this season. That step took awhile to come. He’s 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his last three outings, all coming when the Twins need them the most.

FLASHING LEATHER

Boy, can Denard Span and Carlos Gomez cover some ground when they are on the field together. Both made excellent running catches late in the game.

Michael Cuddyer made a nice play in the third to throw Clete Thomas out at home on a play that’s a little more than routine.

SMALL BALL

I’m not opposed to using the bunt as a weapon. I’m not big on doing it early in games. And I’m not a fan of bunting people from second to third, either. Managers have their own style, and Ron Gardenhire elected to bunt five times in Game 1.

It’s a good debate. Should Gardy not give away so many outs? My read: Gardy looked at how the game was going and decided to move the runners over. You also have to remember all the times he lets these guys swing away or move runners over on their own and watched it backfire.

He decided to be more hands on today.

Everyone is/will be talking about the failed suicide squeeze in the ninth. It’s the hitter’s job there to get the bunt down no matter what. But the toughest pitch to bunt is that one that’s up and in. Punto was put in a tough spot with Alexi Casilla tearing down the line.

I’m curious to know if Detroit expected that play, leading to the pitch selection. 

“That’s where you want to throw it if you smell something,” Gardy said during the part of the post game presser that FSN showed

(Note to FSN: They were just starting to break down the squeeze play when you cut to the dueling hair stylists in the studio. Shame on you!).

I can see why Gardy took a shot. If the Twins get a clutch hit or two earlier in the game, he might not have to make that decision later.

Anyway, let’s get ready for Game 2. I’m appearing on Dan Barreiro’s show on KFAN around 3:20 to break down the game some more, if you want to tune in….

I checked in with Denard Span after last night’s game. He was able to get some running in before the game and felt he was slowly coming around after being beaned on Monday.

Span said there were times during Tuesday’s game when he felt like he was close to normal. Then he would feel foggy again. He said he was up and down like that throughout the game. So it will be interesting to see how he feels when the clubhouse opens this afternoon.

The Twins could use Span tonight. He’s 10-for-20 against Buehrle, including four hits in his last four plate appearances against him.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s out again tonight. Two games off, then an off day. Then fire him out against the Royals.

Cuddyer sizzling

Michael Cuddyer is batting .347 with 5 homers and 17 RBI over his past 13 games.  But his numbers against White Sox lefty John Danks are - to steal a phrase from a bad movie - mind-bottling.

He’s batting .533 with 5 homers and 11 RBI against Danks with a 1.730 on base-plus-slugging percentage. In 30 at-bats!

Danks threw up his arms Tuesday after Cuddyer homered off of him again.

“Cuddyer owns me,” Danks said. “I should just walk him every time he comes up. I’m at a loss for words. He’s a heck of a player. For whatever reason, those guys got something on me or I just serve up cookies.”

Zack Greinke watch

In addition to facing the Twins on Sunday, KC ace Zack Greinke is expected to start for the Royals on Oct. 3, the final regular season game at the Dome. There might be a couple things on the line in that game.

This and that

Matt Tolbert has two career homers, both at U.S. Cellular Field. “Both in the same spot,” he said.

Joe Mauer is a .212 hitter against Mark Buehrle, tonight’s starter.

Gardy’s quote about Francisco Liriano’s relief outing: “Joe Mauer said it was the best the ball has come out of his hand in a long time.” That suggests that Liriano could start Sunday against the Royals. I made fun of it on my Twitter page when I tweeted that Liriano was trying to make a Vincent Chase-like comeback. But he just might get a chance to emerge from the Medellin stage of his career.

The White Sox are falling apart. Closer Bobby Jenks said yesterday that he popped a calf muscle during pre-game work and is done for the year.

Watching Libya leader Mohmmar Gadhafi’s address to the United Nations as I write this. If he didn’t have any power, his revisionist history and conspiracy theories would be pretty funny. He talked about the JFK assassination and swine flu, called President Obama his son and tossed the UN charter at someone. You can’t make this stuff up….

Baseball writers learn not to take some injuries lightly. There have been too many times that a sprain or a pull has been diagnosed as a day-to-day situation but has turned into a two-week absence from the lineup.

So I cringed in the pressbox at U.S. Cellular Field last night when it was announced that Denard Span was O.K. after getting hit in the head by a Randy Williams’ fastball in the sixth inning. Then I grew more concerned after talking with Span, who clearly was still out of it after the game.

I think his quote, “I don’t even want to think about baseball after getting hit like that,” influenced me. I also was influenced when he told us that doctors told him that he had a mild concussion.

Twins beanball history suggests Span will need some time off. That’s a huge development because the Twins have just 12 games to make up 2.5 games on Detroit in the division race and Span is their only true leadoff hitter and most versatile outfielder.

Alex Ochoa, May 5, 1998: The Twins were in Boston. Ochoa was warming up with teammates when Darren Lewis lined a foul ball into the group.

There were two noises, the ball off Lewis’ bat and the ball hitting Ochoa squarely in the back of the head. Ochoa let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to the ground. Ugh. Fortunately, he was hit in the thickest part of the skull. He missed two games. It helped that he was down the line in foul territory and not closer.

Matt Lawton, June 9, 1999: A Dennys Reyes fastball smoked Lawton in the face, causing two fractures in his right eye socket. He missed six weeks and it took even longer for him to feel fully comfortable in the batter’s  box.

(Funny side note: Dick Martin, the Twins’ trainer at the time, ran out of the field to help Lawton right after the beaning. “I can’t see! I can’t see!” Lawton yelled. “Open your eyes!” Martin replied. Lawton did, and realized he could still see.)

Justin Morneau, April 6,2005: Morneau was hit on the temple by a Ron Villone fastball in Seattle. He was diagnosed with a mild concussion and landed on the 15-day disabled list. It was the fifth concussion for the former hockey player. Some believed it affected him the rest of the season.

Torii Hunter, March 2, 2007: Hunter was hit in the head by a Kyle Lohse pitch during a spring game against the Twins and Reds.  Hunter missed three days (although I remember Hunter claiming he could have returned sooner).

Torii Hunter, April 26, 2007: Tough year for Hunter. He was hit in the mouth by a Zack Greinke pitch and needed three stitches to close a laceration on the inside of his lip. Somehow, he played the next day and extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Conclusion: What helped Span on Monday was that 1) He turned his head and 2) It hit the helmet and not his head. It doesn’t help that he’s already been dizzy once this year, when he had vestibular neuritis in June.

The way he looked and sounded last night, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him on the bench tonight.  Especically against lefty John Danks. I will be impressed if he can play.

But Span’s worth to his lineup can’t be taken lightly. He’s easily the third most valuable hitter behind Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau - and Morneau is already out with a stress fracture in his back.  Even a few games off puts the Twins at a big disadvantage as they are running out of time in the playoff chase.