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Twins beat 5/25
Capps unavailable Wednesday due to sore arm
MINNEAPOLIS — Twins closer Matt Capps was unavailable for a second consecutive game Wednesday due to soreness in his forearm.
Capps pitched Monday against the Mariners, tossing 31 pitches over 1 2/3 innings, giving up one run on two hits for his fourth blown save of the season. It was the second-highest pitch total of the season for Capps and his sixth outing of more than three outs this year.
“Capps is a no-go. We’re backing off him,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We’re not going to mess with him.”
Capps’ injury will not require an MRI as of yet. The Twins are just being cautious to allow him to rest after a couple tough outings.
While Capps is the Twins’ closer, Gardenhire would prefer not to use him outside of the ninth inning, but the Twins have been forced to bring him in during the eighth for his past two outings.
The results in those appearances have been an 0-1 mark for Capps with a pair of blown saves. He’s allowed five runs on six hits and two strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.
“I know a lot of teams have done that with their closers and everything,” Gardenhire said. “We really like the idea of bringing him in the ninth inning and letting him have a clean inning.”
Twins will hold fundraiser for tornado victims
MINNEAPOLIS — An autograph session will be held before Saturday’s game at Target Field to raise funds for victims of the recent tornadoes, the Twins announced Wednesday.
The session will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT outside Gate 29 on Target Plaza, and all donations will benefit the Red Cross tornado relief efforts. For $10, fans will be able to get a variety of autographs, with a limit of one from each player.
Among the players scheduled to take part in the autograph session are pitchers Matt Capps and Brian Duensing and catcher Drew Butera.
Twins beat 5/24
Cuddyer sits on Tuesday; Young in lineup
MINNEAPOLIS — After leaving Monday’s game with tightness in his right hip, Michael Cuddyer said he felt better on Tuesday, though he still remained out of the Twins lineup.
Cuddyer injured the hip during his sixth-inning at-bat on Monday, saying he felt it grab after a foul ball. He went through all his usual pregame activities before Tuesday’s game against the Mariners and hopes to return soon.
“He felt good about the activities we did inside; he’s out here now testing it out to see how it goes,” head trainer Rick McWane said Tuesday during batting practice. “He doesn’t anticipate that it’s going to be a major problem, and he could be available [Wednesday].”
Left fielder Delmon Young, who also left Monday’s game with an injury, was back in the lineup on Tuesday. Young had a shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg in the sixth inning, but felt good enough to play Tuesday night.
Mijares, Perkins progressing; Slowey’s status unclear
MINNEAPOLIS — Head trainer Rick McWane gave an update on Tuesday on injured Twins relievers Jose Mijares, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey.
Mijares threw a light session off the mound on Tuesday, and will throw in the bullpen on Wednesday.
“If that goes well, he’ll go out on a rehab assignment somewhere this weekend,” McWane said.
McWane added that Perkins is still making good progress with his strained right oblique.
Slowey, whose MRI on his oblique and abdomen came back negative on Monday, will see a doctor on Wednesday morning to check for a possible hernia.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked if he was expecting to make a move with Slowey going somewhere after Tuesday’s game. Still unsure if Slowey had any sort of injury, Gardenhire indicated the decision would not come until after Slowey’s visit to the doctor.
“I’m still waiting to see what we have,” Gardenhire said. “He’s going to see a hernia doctor, we’re going to see if there’s any issues there, and if that’s clear, then we’ll probably do something.”
Twins beat, 5/23
Slowey to pitch again soon, but not as reliever
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
“We’ll see what the best route is to go with him,” Gardenhire said. “We all know he needs to pitch. He’s basically told us he really can’t do this out of the ‘pen, and so now we’ve got to find another way, whether it’s Triple-A or whatever.
“That’s our only option, is send him down and let him start — it sounds to me like that.”
The Twins have three options now with Slowey: send him to the Minors to pitch, add him to the big league rotation or explore trade options.
Gardenhire said he would talk with Twins general manager Bill Smith and with Slowey to determine the best course of action. He added that Slowey would be unavailable out of the bullpen while they worked to figure out a solution.
“We’re going to get him in a situation where he can start,” Gardenhire said. “That’s how he needs to prepare to pitch, and he’s tried to get loose out there, it hasn’t worked out.
“I can’t tell a guy two innings before he’s going to pitch that, ‘You probably are going to pitch in two innings.’ It just doesn’t work that way in the bullpen.”
Cuddyer, Young exit game with minor injuries
MINNEAPOLIS — Two more injuries were added Monday night to the long list the Twins have already compiled this season. Fortunately, neither seems too serious.
Left fielder Delmon Young left with a left leg contusion after fouling a ball off his leg in the seventh inning and second baseman Michael Cuddyer left with a right hip strain after singling and scoring earlier in the frame.
Young’s injury was noticeable after the 8-7 10-inning loss to the Mariners, but it was not anything that he or the Twins expect would keep him out for long.
“It’s just bruised right on the knee. It’s just bending, it was too sore to try to go out there and try running around,” Young said.
“Hopefully it’s just one of those things where it’s just a bruise for a day, and the next day you’re able to come out and have less pain, and be able to run around and tolerate.”
Cuddyer walked with a noticeable limp after the game, but he did run well on Jim Thome’s home run before coming out of the game. He said he felt his hip grab a bit after a foul ball during his at-bat that resulted in an infield single.
“That’s the funny thing, and that’s what actually is encouraging, is that I was busting it pretty good and I was running pretty well until I saw it go out of the park,” Cuddyer said. “I was on third base when they signaled home run. So that’s what’s kind of encouraging to me.”
With so many players having spent time on the disabled list already this season — Young being one of them — losing either player for an extended period would be another blow to what has been a trying season so far in Minnesota.
Both players expressed a hope that they would be back sooner rather than later, and Cuddyer said it would take quite a bit to keep him out of the lineup.
“For me, it’s either you can play or you can’t,” Cuddyer said. “There’s a black and white line in between that, either you can or you can’t. If I can, I’ll be out there. And if I can’t, you know I can’t.”
Mauer, Nishioka nearly ready to get in games
MINNEAPOLIS — Second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka may play in games by the end of the week, Twins head trainer Rick McWane said before Monday’s game against the Mariners.
Nishioka, who has been sidelined since April 7 with a broken left fibula, has made a lot of progress in his rehabilitation at the club’s Spring Training facility in Fort Myers, Fla.
“[He] did very good today,” McWane said. “They’ve increased his workouts, he’s doing just about everything he can on the field. His agility drills are going great and he’s very close to playing in a game. We anticipate, maybe by the end of the week, he’ll be playing in games.”
All-Star catcher Joe Mauer also continues to rehab in Fort Myers, and is close to getting in a game as a designated hitter. There’s no date set, but Mauer could DH as soon as Tuesday.
Mauer’s activities were increased Monday, and he will continue to be evaluated daily to determine if he is game-ready. He threw well Monday, at 120 feet, with good strength.
“He was throwing the ball well up here. He went down to Florida and after his first workout down there, his shoulder was a little sore,” McWane said. “So they backed him off a little bit, but they said it was a lot better today.”
Lefty reliever Jose Mijares, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list May 15 with elbow soreness, will throw off the mound Tuesday. Mijares will throw a bullpen later this week, and the Twins will then decide what the plan is for him, McWane said.
Glen Perkins, who went on the DL on Sunday morning with a strained right oblique, was “feeling a lot better” and was scheduled to be checked out by the team doctors on Monday.
Outfielder Jason Repko had been on the disabled list with a right quad strain. He was activated Sunday and rejoined the Twins prior to Monday’s game against the Mariners.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Bautista’s 13th homer sparks Blue Jays
MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins could hold Jose Bautista without a hit for only so long.
After going 0-for-3 with a walk in his first four plate appearances on Saturday, Bautista came to the plate in the 11th inning with a runner on and no outs. Bautista connected with a 1-1 fastball, crushing a two-run go-ahead home run to right off reliever Jim Hoey, setting up a 9-3 Blue Jays victory over the Twins at Target Field.
Bautista’s home run was his Major League-best 13th of the season, and he has now homered 10 times in his last 20 games. In the clubhouse after the game, Bautista’s teammates marveled at the way he’s been hitting this season.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, other than Barry Bonds hitting,” said left fielder Corey Patterson, who scored on Bautista’s home run. “It’s impressive, it’s fun to watch and he’s a tremendous player.”
Bautista finished 1-for-5 on the day and has reached safely in 30 of 31 games this season, in 20 consecutive games and in 78 of his last 88 games, dating back to last season.
Bautista was intentionally walked in the eighth inning, raising his Major League-leading total of walks to 35 on the season.
“He’s ridiculous right now,” said catcher J.P. Arencibia, who hit his sixth home run of the season in the second inning. “He’s just so consistent; that’s why the results keep on coming. He’s got a good plan, he knows what he’s doing and he stays within it. If the ball’s out of the zone, he lays off it. If it’s in the zone, he crushes it.”
They may be biased, but do Bautista’s teammates think he is the best hitter in baseball right now?
“For sure, definitely,” Patterson said without hesitation. “It’s no doubt. He’s hitting home runs, he has a high average, RBIs, on-base percentage. Typically, guys that hit a lot of homers are going to be lacking in something, as far as average, but when you look across his numbers in all of the offensive categories, he’s up there in the tops of everything.”
One thing is for sure — Bautista is the last hitter that Blue Jays starter Jo-Jo Reyes would want to see coming up to the plate.
“I tell everybody in here, ‘That’s one guy I do not want to face,'” Reyes said. “People try to throw him in and he hits home runs, and then today they start going away and he hits a home run the other way. I guess throw the whole kitchen sink and see what he hits.”
Bautista’s blast sparked a six-run outburst for the Blue Jays in the 11th, as his homer was followed by two walks, a double, a single and two more walks. The Blue Jays brought 11 batters to the plate in the frame, and the first eight reached base.
If you ask manager John Farrell, though, Bautista would not have even had that chance if it had not been for Patterson’s big hits in the eighth and 11th.
“Obviously, it’s a huge home run to give us the lead, but if it wasn’t for Patterson’s triple in the eighth and the work of our bullpen, we might be looking at 3-2, advantage Minnesota,” Farrell said.
Patterson’s triple tied the game in the eighth and was the second straight hit for the Blue Jays after Twins starter Nick Blackburn had retired 17 in a row. In the 11th, Patterson led off with a single, which set the table for Bautista and the Blue Jays’ six-run inning.
As Farrell mentioned, the Blue Jays’ bullpen also performed admirably, holding the Twins scoreless for 5 1/3 innings. Jon Rauch pitched the ninth and 10th, allowing just one hit while retiring six of the seven batters he faced to pick up his second win of the season.
The Blue Jays also extended their winning streak to four games, while lefty Jo-Jo Reyes extended his winless streak as well. For Reyes, going one more game without a win was fine, so long as the team got a victory.
“Our main goal is to keep the team in the game and give them a chance to win,” Reyes said. “Obviously, that happened today. The only frustrating thing about this outing was that leadoff walk in the first. That’s the only thing I have negative to say.”
Many times in his nearly three-year span without a victory, Reyes has pitched well enough to win, only to be outdone by an opposing starter. While Reyes did not have his best stuff on Saturday, that once again was the case, as he settled for a no-decision.
Reyes allowed three runs (two earned) on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking one. But he was outpitched by Blackburn, who gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits over 7 2/3 frames, while striking out a career-high eight batters and issuing just two walks.
To pitch as well as he did and come away with a no-decision after allowing two eighth-inning hits was disappointing for Blackburn.
“It’s pretty tough,” Blackburn said. “It’s a frustrating way to end the day for myself. I went out there and jerked a pitch and left it over the plate for a triple. But I still felt like I went there today and made some good pitches, but the way it ends is pretty frustrating.”
A big first inning for the Twins and a big game by right fielder Michael Cuddyer were enough to extend Reyes’ streak to 26 straight games without a win.
Walking the Twins’ first batter of the game came back to hurt Reyes, as center fielder Denard Span later scored on an error by first baseman David Cooper that followed a Justin Morneau infield single. Shortstop Trevor Plouffe also scored one batter later on Delmon Young’s sacrifice fly to center field.
Cuddyer went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in the sixth, but even the homer came on a good pitch down in the zone from Reyes.
“It kills me, because he’s pitched so well for us,” Arencibia said. “But you know what? We haven’t really scored for him. He did what his job was. Other than that first inning, that run that scored that really shouldn’t have scored, he pitched his butt off again.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
After flirting with history, Romero twirls gem
MINNEAPOLIS — After being on the losing end of a no-hitter last time out, Ricky Romero took a run at a no-hitter of his own Friday. The southpaw came up short, but he dominated the Twins in his best outing of the season.
Romero held the Twins hitless through 5 2/3 frames, before giving up a pair of singles. He allowed just two additional hits in his 8 2/3 innings of work as the Blue Jays picked up a 2-0 win at Target Field.
“Ricky was outstanding tonight, there’s no doubt about it,” manager John Farrell said.
With a runner on in the ninth, Romero was one out away from his second career shutout. But after getting Delmon Young to hit the ball on the ground, it was just beyond the reach of second baseman Aaron Hill.
That forced Farrell to call in his closer.
“He handled Young in the first two at-bats, and I felt like he’s up two, and in the worst-case scenario, he’s not looking at a loss,” Farrell said. “But that was his last hitter he was going to face, regardless of what happened. After that, it was a matter of us finishing out the game and winning it.”
With the potential for a loss at that point even after such a dominant performance, would Romero have liked to stay in there to finish it out for his fifth career complete game?
“Absolutely,” Romero said. “I think that’s your goal any time you’re a starter — you want to finish what you started. I felt good, and obviously you understand why you’re coming out in that situation.”
Despite collecting 13 hits in the game, the Blue Jays managed just two runs, while leaving 14 runners on base and going just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Corey Patterson scored the first run for Toronto in the seventh, on a Juan Rivera single.
In the ninth, Jose Bautista smacked his 12th long ball of the season on a 3-2 fastball from Twins reliever Joe Nathan.
“I was just looking for a good pitch to handle, something to hit,” Bautista said. “He gave me a lot of them, I just kept fouling them off. That one, I just got ready a little bit earlier, and luckily he threw a fastball middle-in and I was able to connect well with it.”
With the win, Romero improved to 4-0 in five career starts against the Twins, including the Blue Jays’ 13-3 victory on Opening Day at Rogers Centre. Romero has allowed just eight earned runs on 33 hits in 38 innings of work against the Twins.
The dominant outing for Romero came after he had his shortest outing of the season against the Tigers last Saturday, when he went just 3 1/3 innings and allowed six runs as Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays.
“I prepared well all week to kind of get to this point,” Romero said. “After a little rough outing, I think it motivates you even more to come out and just have a good outing for the team and for a much-needed rest for the bullpen.”
Romero pitched that game on seven days’ rest after his start was bumped back due to an oblique injury, but he was on regular four days’ rest on Friday against Minnesota. The lefty faced the minimum through three innings, and he had allowed just two baserunners — both on walks — through 5 2/3 innings.
Center fielder Denard Span ripped a single through the infield to left for Minnesota’s first hit of the game in the sixth, and was followed by shortstop Trevor Plouffe, who beat out a weak grounder for an infield single. Romero got out of the inning with a grounder to short to keep the Twins off the board.
Romero struck out eight batters against just three walks.
He primarily used his fastball throughout the game, only mixing in offspeed pitches as necessary.
“It was unbelievable,” catcher J.P. Arencibia said of Romero’s performance. “What’s crazy is he threw probably 80-85 percent fastballs and he commanded both sides of the plate.
“He’s got so many different weapons. One day, maybe his changeup is on and everyone’s just swinging at his changeup, or his breaking ball. But today, he threw cutters and sinkers, and his ball was moving so much in the zone that it’s really all he needed to do.”
For the Blue Jays, the shutout was the first for the club since Sept. 23, 2010, against the Mariners.
The win was Toronto’s third straight, the first time this season the Blue Jays have won three in a row. Now they’re looking to improve their hitting with runners in scoring position.
“Yeah, we hope so,” Bautista said, “and not necessarily bang out that amount of hits like we did tonight and get all those baserunners. Just cash in and get the timely hits when runners are on base. That would be huge; I know our pitching staff would appreciate it if we could score more runs, so hopefully we can get the offense rolling.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Blue Jays beat, 5/13
Lind scratched from lineup with back soreness
By Jordan Schelling / MLB.com
“He went through some on-field activity, took some ground balls and started to feel some soreness in the left side of the lower back when he was running the bases,” said manager John Farrell. “A little bit more of the pounding sensation that was starting to generate that, so we decided to scratch him.”
With Lind unavailable, Farrell was forced to shuffle his lineup, moving Juan Rivera from first base to designated hitter, Edwin Encarnacion to first base and putting John McDonald in at third. Lind’s absence from the lineup also left the Blue Jays with a thin bench once again, as David Cooper and Jose Molina were the only two available.
Farrell also noted that while Lind was coming off two good days of work, Lind’s return Friday would have been ahead of schedule.
“We felt all along that if we got him back in the lineup by Monday, that still gave us seven more days of activity rather than the two weeks on the DL,” Farrell said. “So we’re day to day. Until something else happens that we have to make a roster move or react to whatever might take place, we’ll address it at that time.”
Nix making progress, could return Monday
MINNEAPOLIS — Second baseman Jayson Nix could rejoin the Blue Jays on Monday in Detroit, manager John Farrell said before Friday’s game against the Twins.
After being rained out Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla., Nix began a rehab assignment with Dunedin, the Blue Jays’ Class A Advanced affiliate. Dunedin played a doubleheader against the Fort Myers Miracle, the Twins’ affiliate in the Florida State League.
“He had early work [Thursday], everything was progressing fine,” Farrell said. “We expect him to get the next three days with Dunedin, and then the potential of returning to us on Monday in Detroit is a real possibility.”
Hentgen mourns death of mentor Queen
MINNEAPOLIS — In the first year that Mel Queen was the Blue Jays’ pitching coach, Pat Hentgen had the best year of his career and won the American League Cy Young Award.
It was no coincidence, said Hentgen, the three-time All-Star, World Series winner and current Blue Jays bullpen coach.
“He taught me how to cut the ball, to throw a cut fastball,” Hentgen said. “He said the first couple starts if I didn’t have good command of my curveball, it’d be a rough grind for me. He said, ‘Why don’t you try throwing a little bit of a cutter or a true slider on days when you can’t throw your hook?’ And I went on to have the best year of my career.”
With Queen’s guidance, Hentgen won 20 games in 1996, with a 3.22 ERA and 177 strikeouts. His was the first of three consecutive AL Cy Young Awards won by the Blue Jays, with the latter two belonging to Roger Clemens.
Queen made a big impact on a number of Blue Jays during his time with the club. Among the bigger names to come through Toronto during Queen’s time there were Shawn Green, Carlos Delgado, Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, Woody Williams, Todd Stottlemyre and David Wells.
Not only did Queen help them on the field, he also made it clear that he cared about the players off the field as well.
“He just had a great way of communicating and making you feel confident,” Hentgen said. “I think he cared more about us off the field than he did on the field, and I think that’s one of the things as a player you really tend to respect a lot from a coach or a manager, is that they care about you as a person first and a player second.”
Hentgen, who was very close to Queen, reflected on their relationship before Friday’s game, in light of Queen’s death Friday morning. As important as Queen was to his career, Hentgen valued their friendship even more.
“Great coach, great communicator and a true friend,” Hentgen said. “Many times I spent fishing with him up at my place north of Peterborough, and it’s unfortunate, I lost a great friend.
“Lots of great stories, lots of fun, I’ll always remember him.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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