BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Percival Learns as He Throws
Troy Percival, who is tied with Philadelphia’s Ricky Bottalico for the major league lead with 11 saves after picking up his third in as many days Friday night, is learning the nuances of this closer gig on the fly.
“My arm didn’t hurt, but I just didn’t have as much juice as usual,” he said.
So the 26-year-old right-hander, who comes into the game with Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” blaring over the public address system, is starting to mix in more curveballs with those mid-90-mph fastballs, especially when his arm is tired.
“You’re going to see more and more of them when I’m working without much rest,” he said. “They just make the fastball that much more effective.”
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At 6:50 p.m. Saturday, J.T. Snow was making like Don Mattingly, accepting his first Gold Glove award in a pregame ceremony. Fifteen minutes later, he was making like Bill Buckner.
The Twins’ second batter of the game, Denny Hocking, hit a routine grounder that rolled between Snow’s legs and into right field.
Last season, Snow made four errors in 1,222 chances.
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