Gardy praises Steinbach for victory over KC

MINNEAPOLIS -- Terry Steinbach's first victory as acting manager earned praise from Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire, who missed a second game on Saturday while attending a funeral.

"He sent a couple texts out last night saying congratulations," Steinbach said. "He was happy to see the offense do what it's capable of doing and to see [starter Kyle Gibson] go out there and give us the game that he thought he could give us."

When asked by a reporter if he ever felt comfortable considering the big lead in Friday's 10-1 win over the Royals, Steinbach claimed he was "still pretty nervous" despite the lopsided margin.

"We had the six-run lead and we were contemplating making some defensive moves," Steinbach said. "[Darin Mastroianni in right field] for [Chris] Colabello was easy. That's kind of the plan. We kicked around the idea of getting Joe [Mauer] out [at first base], getting him some rest for the night game to the day game. But with a six-run lead, I didn't feel comfortable with that."

Despite the kudos from Gardenhire, Steinbach wasn't able to get into the skipper's custom humidor to enjoy a victory cigar.

"Gardy wouldn't give me the key," Steinbach joked.