Twins’ Astudillo stares down moonshot, goes viral again

If you miss baseball, boy, do we have a highlight for you. Astudillo, who won the hearts of Twins fans last summer, captured the attention of the entire baseball world with perhaps the most savage reaction to a home run since Abner Doubleday created the sport in the 19th century. Playing in the Venezuelan Winter League, Astudillo swung so hard at a fastball Tuesday night he ended up on one knee in the batter’s box. But he stayed in that position to comfortably watch the ball sail deep into left field. “La Tortuga” proceeded to jump around the base paths, celebrating a big homer in winter ball. Baseball, come back soon.

Was that “Maple Jordan” we witnessed Tuesday night? Wiggins, who’d put up 25+ points just five times this season heading into the matchup with Oklahoma City, posted 40 points and 10 rebounds against the Thunder for his first career 40-10 game. Wiggins, who played under Flip Saunders during his rookie campaign in 2014-15, made his former coach’s son Ryan look good, leading the Wolves to a win in Ryan Saunders’ interim head coaching debut.

If you haven’t heard, Saunders passed his first test as interim head coach of the Wolves. It wasn’t easy. In a high-strung environment at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Saunders steered the Wolves to a tight 119-117 win and celebrated properly afterwards. Players around the NBA sent their congratulatory tweets to Saunders after the win. His next test? Friday night at home against Dallas.

Washington, perhaps Richard Pitino’s most-hyped recruit since taking the reins at Minnesota in 2013, has gone from promising to … mostly a non-factor. Washington didn’t play during the Gophers’ big win in Madison, and he tallied just two points on 1-of-7 shooting in 17 minutes during a loss to Maryland on Tuesday. “Jellyfam” needs to turn things around soon.

It took 34 games, but Dubnyk has finally recorded his first shutout of the season – and the 30th of his career. The Wild goalie singlehandedly took down Montreal 1-0 on Monday, giving Minnesota its ninth straight win over the Canadiens. It’s the type of performance the Wild needed from Dubnyk, as the offense has been held to two or fewer goals in eight of the past 11 contests.