Twins manager Rocco Baldelli raised some eyebrows when he penciled in Alex Kirilloff as the team’s leadoff hitter the first two games of the series.

Wednesday it was 6-foot-4, 235-pound catcher Ryan Jeffers getting the nod and serving as the Twins’ designated hitter. It was the first time in Jeffers’ five-year career, which spans 294 games, that he hit at the top of the order

“He’s finally realizing how fast I am around the bases,” Jeffers said with a smile.

In reality, Baldelli said the idea was to get his best two right-handed hitters, Jeffers and Byron Buxton, as many at-bats as possible against Chicago White Sox left-handed starter Garrett Crochet.

“I have no concern with changing our lineup every day based on who is playing,” Baldelli said. “The way that we are functioning now, the way our roster works, we don’t have anywhere near the ability to put a set lineup out there.

“We’re mixing and matching every day based on who is available and based on how we match up against the opposing pitcher.”

Jeffers said he wasn’t shocked when he saw the lineup card.

“Facing a lefty, I wasn’t too surprised I would be up towards the top,” he said. “Rocco prefaced earlier in the year that there would be chances I would be leading off someday.

“I’ve been hitting second for a couple weeks now, and for me it’s wherever my name is in there I’m going to go out there and treat it the same if I was hitting sixth, seventh or wherever. I’ve had success with my approach, so I’m going to try not to change anything.”

Injuries have forced Baldelli’s hand when it comes to being creative with his lineup.

“When your everyday players are not out there and you’re deciding who is actually going to be playing, it takes time,” he said. “And then you piece together an order that goes with it. It’s a lot easier when I can sit in here by myself and sketch the lineup out on a piece of paper.

“That’s the way it feels like it should be for most of the year, but it hasn’t been like that for us from opening day until now.”

Needed production

Buxton, who hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win, is heating up after a slow start to the season. He entered Wednesday’s game 7 for 16 on the homestand, including three doubles and a home run, and three runs batted in.

“I think he’s just gaining his timing over the course of the early season,” Baldelli said, “and I think that can be the case for almost any hitter. I think he’s just seeing the ball better.

“And I think he’s getting into his lower half a little better, which is letting him get some of these pitches. And he’s hitting the ball hard.”

Duran back on mound

Twins reliever Jhoan Duran, who made his first rehab appearance with the Saints on Tuesday, met briefly with reporters in the Twins’ clubhouse before Wednesday’s game. Duran has yet to pitch for the Twins this season as he recovers from a right oblique strain.

Duran pitched one inning for the Saints, allowing two runs on four hits, and acknowledged that his velocity was down. Duran said he was mostly focused on throwing all of his pitches, and not necessarily the results.

He expects to pitch for the Saints again on Friday, with a decision to be made after that on whether he should be activated.

“He doesn’t have a hard timeline,” Baldelli said. “At this point we want to get him feeling good. When he threw his live (batting practice) here his stuff was basically normal. I don’t think anything has changed between then and now.

“He’s probably just getting settled back in on the mound. He also threw a lot of pitches (27), more than you would think most rehab (appearances) would be. But it’s good for him to get out there and put a little stress on his body, because when he comes back we want him to be ready.”

Republican Minnesota senators on Wednesday unsuccessfully pushed to speed up an ethics investigation and expulsion of a Democratic-Farmer-Labor senator facing a felony burglary charge. But for now, it appears the DFL will hold on to control of the chamber — at least for the rest of the session.

The GOP is asking for an ethics investigation just days after Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, was arrested for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home, throwing into question whether her party can keep its one-seat majority in the Senate

But more immediately, it presents a potential hurdle for bills backed by DFLers in the final weeks of the legislative session. Votes on several major policy bills have already been delayed.

Nicole Mitchell (Courtesy of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office)

GOP senators filed an ethics complaint against Mitchell Wednesday citing the felony charge as a major concern, but also discrepancies in what 49-year-old Mitchell said in criminal charges versus a statement about the case on social media.

In criminal charges filed in Becker County District Court, Mitchell admitted to police she entered her stepmother’s home through a basement window, saying she hoped to retrieve her father’s ashes and other items of sentimental value.

But in a post to social media on Tuesday following her release, Mitchell said she was checking in on her stepmother out of concern for her well-being, and denied allegations she was there to steal.

34-33 margin

In the 34-33 Senate, Republicans seized on the opportunity to call for Mitchell’s resignation and removal. Under the current Senate ethics investigation rules, the process can take up to 30 days to begin, meaning it could start after until after the session closes May 20.

In urging members to vote no Democrats said lawmakers should respect due process before removing a colleague from office.

“It’s important to acknowledge we don’t have all the facts but this obviously is a very tough and challenging moment for this institution,” Senate Majority Erin Murphy told reporters after Wednesday’s floor session.

Sen. Eric Lucero, R-St. Michael, said Mitchell had violated the public trust, and he introduced a resolution to speed up the process to potentially remove her.

“We must have a swift examination of this serious felony charge to ensure the integrity of this institution and the state of Minnesota is upheld,” he said.

The measure failed on a on a 33-33 party-line vote. If it had succeeded, the Senate Ethics Committee would have been required to start its investigation.

Actual removal requires a two-thirds majority in order to succeed, and it’s evident DFLers had no interest in signing off on ending their majority.

Murphy told reporters she’d consider allowing Mitchell to vote remotely for the rest of the session.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said the Senate needs to act on the ethics investigation of Mitchell with urgency because her arrest already led to the cancelation of committee hearings and floor votes on Wednesday and Thursday.

“What you’re seeing now is the DFL kicking that down the road 30 days later,” he said. “Already, today, and tomorrow, Senator Mitchell is having an impact on the business of the Minnesota Senate.”

Other lawmakers criminally charged

Several other sitting Minnesota lawmakers have been charged with a crime while in office, and none have stepped down. Most of them were for driving while intoxicated, and none have faced felony charges.

John Jasinski, R-Faribault, Tou Xiong, DFL-Maplewood, Brion Curran, DFL-Vadnais Heights and Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, have all pleaded guilty in DWI cases.

Northwest Minnesota Rep. Matt Grossel, R-Clearbrook, pleaded guilty to DWI in 2023, and was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing after refusing to leave a hospital he ended up at after being drunk and disorderly and shoving a security guard at a hotel near the state Capitol.

In 2021, House DFLers expelled St. Paul Rep. John Thompson from their caucus due to allegations of domestic abuse and misconduct. Thompson didn’t get expelled or resign, but he eventually lost a primary challenge and left office at the end of his first and only two-year term in 2023.

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By JACQUES BILLEAUD and JOSH KELETY (Associated Press)

PHOENIX (AP) — Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.”

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Seven others were indicted, but their names were blacked out of records released by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes. Her office said the names will be released after those people are served with the charges.

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the eight lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 Republicans who would later sign the certificate declaring Trump as the winner.

Their lawsuit asked a judge to de-certify the results that gave Biden his victory in Arizona and block the state from sending them to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa said the Republicans lacked legal standing, waited too long to bring their case and “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.”

Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 Republicans participated in the certificate signing.

The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake electors in other states.

In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans on felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument in connection with false election certificates. They have pleaded not guilty.

Michigan’s Attorney General in July filed felony charges that included forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery against 16 Republican fake electors. One had charges dropped after reaching a cooperation deal, and the 15 remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia alongside Trump and others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results. They have pleaded not guilty.

In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors settled a civil lawsuit, admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn Biden’s victory. There is no known criminal investigation in Wisconsin.

Trump also was indicted in August in federal court over the fake electors scheme. The indictment states that when Trump was unable to persuade state officials to illegally swing the election, he and his Republican allies began recruiting a slate of fake electors in battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — to sign certificates falsely stating he, not Biden, had won their states.

In early January, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that state’s five Republican electors cannot be prosecuted under the current law. In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat saying the election certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. No charges have been filed in Pennsylvania.

In Arizona, Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, conducted an investigation of the 2020 election, but the fake elector allegations were not part of that examination, according to Mayes’ office.

In another election-related case brought by Mayes’ office, two Republican officials in a rural Arizona county who delayed canvassing the 2022 general election results face felony charges. A grand jury indicted Cochise County Supervisors Peggy Judd and Tom Crosby in November on one count each of conspiracy and interference with an election officer. Both pleaded not guilty.

The Republicans facing charges are Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District; Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; energy industry executive James Lamon, who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat; Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020; Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women; Loraine Pellegrino, president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women; and Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.

There was no immediate response to phone messages seeking comment that were left Wednesday with Jacob Hoffman, Kelli Ward, Michael Ward, James Lamon and Tyler Bowyer.

___

Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.