Brian Dozier

Former Twins 2nd baseball Brian Dozier announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 33 Thursday. Dozier played 7 seasons for the Twins and hit 167 homeruns. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. Jim says Dozier came up as a short stop with some power and ability to hit for power and turned himself into a pull power hitter and gold glove 2nd baseman.

The Twins traded 2nd baseman Brian Dozier to the Los Angeles Dodgers just minutes before the trade deadline for infielder Logan Forsythe and AA outfielder/1st baseman Luke Raley and AA left handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer.

The Twins optioned shortstop Brian Dozier to triple-A Rochester and called up shortstop Pedro Florimon. Dozier is hitting .234 this season with 6 homeruns and 33 RBIs for the Twins. Florimon began the season at double-A and was hitting .251 with 3 homeruns and 27 RBIs at triple Rochester.

The Twins blanked Boston 5-0 behind a solid performance by Sam Deduno. Deduno threw 6 shutout innings with 2 hits and 4 walks allowed to get the win and improve to 3-0. Glen Perkins threw 2 scoreless inning of relief to get the save, his 6th. Brian Dozier went 3-4 with a 2-run homerun and 2 runs scored and Justin Morneau went 2-4 with a run scored and Ryan Doumit went 1-3 with 1 RBI.

The Twins lost 9-4 Sunday afternoon to Oakland. The A's sweep the Twins in the 3-game series. Brian Duensing threw 2 innings with 7 hits and 6 earned runs allowed to take the loss and drop to 1-6. Ryan Doumit was 2-4 with a run scored and 1 RBI and Brian Dozier was 2-4 with 1 RBI. Oakland knocked out 4 homeruns and were led by Yoenis Cespedes who went 4-5 with a homerun and 3 RBIs for the A's.

Texas beat the Twins 4-3 in 13 innings Sunday night. Minnesota led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th inning when Texas scored 3 unearned runs off Glen Perkins. Brian Dozier started the inning but committed an error that led to the 3 unearned runs. Ian Kinsler singled off Alex Burnett in the 13th inning to end the game.

The Twins lost 12-5 at home to the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night. Nick Blackburn allowed 9 hits and 6 earned runs in 5 innings to take the loss and drop to 4-5. Jeff Manship allowed 3 earned runs in 1 inning. He was optioned to triple-A Rochester after the game. His ERA is 10.97. Darin Mastroianni hit a 2-run homerun and Brian Dozier went 1-3 with a solo homerun and 2 RBIs for Minnesota. Adam Dunn hit a 3-run homerun for the White Sox.

The Twins lost 5-3 at home to Milwaukee Friday night to drop their 3rd straight game. Matt Capps allowed a 2-run homerun to Martin Maldonado in the 9th inning to break the 3-all tie. Trevor Plouffe was 2-4 with 2 solo homeruns to increase his homerun total to 14 this season. Brian Dozier added 3 hits for the Twins. Francisco Liriano allowed 3 earned runs in 6 innings and didn't figure in the final decision.

The Twins outscored the Tigers 11-7 in Detroit Wednesday night. Brian Dozier hit a 3-run homerun and Trevor Plouffe added a 2-run homerun for Minnesota. Josh Willingham had 3 hits, 2 runs scored and 1 RBI and Jamey Carroll was 2-5 with a run scored and 2 RBIs for the Twins. Nick Blackburn started the game and struggled. He allowed 6 hits and 6 earned runs in 2 innings and left in the game in part because of pain in his left leg. Five relief pitcher combined to throw 7 innings with 1 earned run allowed. Alex Burnett earned the win in relief.

The Twins lost 5-0 at home against Cleveland Tuesday afternoon. Derek Lowe threw a complete-game 6-hit shutout with 4 walks allowed and no strikeouts. It's Lowe's first shutout in nearly 7 years. Brian Dozier had 3 hits for the Twins and Jason Marquis allowed 9 hits and 5 earned runs in 5 innings to take the loss and drop to 2-3. His ERA swells to 6.68.