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Twins notebook, 6/9
Thome may resume activities this weekend
MINNEAPOLIS — Jim Thome’s quadriceps injury is related to his previous oblique injury, Twins head trainer Rick McWane said on Thursday.
After undergoing an MRI on his quad, back and hip, it was determined the pain in Thome’s quad was being caused by his back.
“We’ve consulted with our back specialists and some other ones,” McWane said. “The best course of action is [Friday] [Thome] is going to have an epidural in his back, and that should take care of the symptoms he’s having in his quad.”
If the treatment works, Thome’s baseball activities will progress this weekend.
First baseman Justin Morneau also underwent an MRI on his wrist, which showed some fluid, but no structural damage. McWane said the Twins would let Morneau continue to play as tolerated.
Twins reliever Joe Nathan (elbow soreness) threw a bullpen session on Thursday that went “great,” McWane said. Nathan is scheduled to throw another bullpen session on Saturday.
“If it goes well on Saturday, he’ll also go to Fort Myers [Fla.], probably Sunday,” McWane said.
Kevin Slowey (abdominal strain) continued to progress as well, throwing long toss on Thursday up to 120 feet with no complaints.
On the 15-day disabled list with a left foot sprain, Jason Kubel hit in the cage on Thursday and did some agility drills. McWane said Kubel felt “OK,” and that they would progress his baseball activities through the weekend.
Lefty reliever Glen Perkins (strained right oblique) threw a bullpen session on Thursday and is scheduled for a rehab stint with Triple-A Rochester beginning this weekend.
“[Perkins] is headed to Toledo tomorrow,” McWane said. “He’s going to pitch an inning on Saturday.”
Span placed on seven-day DL with concussion
MINNEAPOLIS — After meeting with team doctors and a specialist on Thursday, center fielder Denard Span was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion.
Outfielder Rene Tosoni was recalled from Triple-A Rochester and will join the Twins before Friday’s game against the Rangers.
Span suffered the concussion last Friday during a home-plate collision with Royals catcher Brayan Pena, and has been dealing with head and neck issues ever since. He said he was feeling better on Thursday, but there were still some lingering effects.
“I feel better than I did [Wednesday], just taking one day at a time,” Span said. “My neck’s still a little bit sore, and I still get dizzy here and there.”
After flying back from Cleveland to Minnesota on Tuesday night because of the headaches, dizziness and a stiff neck, Span saw a specialist at a balance and dizziness center.
Span spent four hours going through a number of tests on Thursday.
“All different types of tests, letting them spin me around in chairs and throwing on goggles and all this crazy stuff,” Span said. “They wore me out today.”
Span said the symptoms are similar to the vestibular neuritis he dealt with in 2009, and that those symptoms have never fully gone away. Doctors told Span that some of the symptoms he had in 2009 had flared up again after being triggered by the concussion last week.
Over the last couple days, Span said he would occasionally feel “spaced out,” or like the “room was moving a little bit.”
“It’s not all the time, it just comes and goes,” he said. “There have been times when I’m at home relaxing and it comes, and sometimes I’m relaxing and I don’t feel it. I think little things, like maybe bright lights every now and then or if I’ve got a lot of people around me like now, I start to feel a little funny.”
The seven-day DL was implemented this season to give teams more options when dealing with concussions.
With so many other players already injured already this season, it helps the Twins bring up an extra outfielder without having to sideline Span any longer than necessary.
“If I’m healthy in seven days I come off, if I’m healthy in eight days, I come off,” Span said. “There’s a lot more flexibility for the player to come back. With a concussion everybody heals different and you just never know. I could feel better tomorrow. You just never know.”
Gardy in no hurry to end Nishioka’s rehab
MINNEAPOLIS — Tsuyoshi Nishioka could be ready to return as soon as early next week, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wants him to play at Triple-A Rochester first.
After playing nine innings on Wednesday night for the Miracle, Nishioka was scheduled to play nine innings at shortstop for Class A Fort Myers again on Thursday. Batting leadoff, Nishioka went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored while also striking out twice.
Nishioka was eligible to return from the 60-day disabled list on Tuesday, but Gardenhire has no problem giving him a few more days on his rehab assignment before he returns.
“I don’t want him rushed up here,” Gardenhire said. “He’s not been swinging great, so I want to see him go full out. My preference is for him to go to Triple-A and play whatever, three, four more ball games. Just to see how he’s handling himself and make sure he’s on track, make sure he’s ready to step in and play right up here.”
Defense hurts Twins in loss to Angels
MINNEAPOLIS — Some games this year, it’s been the Twins offense. In others, the pitching has been to blame. In their series finale with the Angels on Sunday, defense was the problem.
Only two errors went down in the box score, on throws by Danny Valencia and Trevor Plouffe in the third inning, but defensive miscues seemed to come far too often as the Twins lost to the Angels, 6-5, at Target Field.
Plouffe opened the third inning with a throw that got past Justin Morneau at first base, but it was ruled an infield single for Mark Trumbo. Two batters later, Valencia also threw one past Morneau, which went down as another single. Valencia was credited for the error when the runner advanced to third base.
Capping things off was Plouffe, who sailed a throw past first base with two outs, allowing the run to score from third for the Angels’ third run of the inning.
“I sailed ’em,” Plouffe said of the throws. “That’s all that is.”
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been on Plouffe about his defense, and Sunday’s performance was not exactly what he had in mind.
Earlier in the week, Plouffe misplayed a couple balls in the infield by not being aggressive and getting to them quickly enough, allowing the runners to beat his throws. On his poor throws Sunday, Plouffe also seemed to lack some aggression, appearing tentative as he tossed the ball over to first.
“It kind of looked like he didn’t let ’em fly, just kind of lobbed ’em over there,” Gardenhire said. “That’s what we’re talking about. Be aggressive.
“We worked really hard at it yesterday and he did a good job throwing the ball.”
Gardenhire talked before the game about how Plouffe had been unhappy the other day after having to answer questions from a number of reporters about his defensive struggles. It motivated Plouffe to work on his play at shortstop, leading him to put in extra work.
Whatever the problem is, the work Plouffe is putting in, and the focus he’s put on being aggressive have not translated into positive results on the field.
“I’ve got to look at some video, see what I’m doing, and make an adjustment,” Plouffe said. “That’s all I can do. I can’t go back in time and fix anything right now. Just move forward.”
One tough defensive inning behind him was enough to keep Carl Pavano in pursuit of his 100th career win for at least one more start. Pavano battled well against Angels starter Dan Haren, but the three-run third inning was the difference.
Making his sixth attempt at getting that elusive career mark, Pavano remained winless for the month of May. He went eight innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits. Pavano struck out three batters and did not allow a walk.
While the third inning was tough, Pavano was bothered most by the run he allowed in the fifth, which made it a two-run game when Jeff Mathis scored on an Erick Aybar single.
“The thing that stands out the most for me is allowing [Mathis] to get a walking lead and steal second,” Pavano said. “That run right there really makes it a tight ball game, it changes the order, how the order comes up. I gave him no credit at all and he ends up stealing that bag and scoring on a bloop to center.”
Haren did not appear to have his best stuff against the Twins, giving up three runs on 10 hits and exiting after six innings with just two strikeouts.
But he still picked up the win, as the Angels offense picked him up.
“I didn’t really have any out pitches,” Haren said. “I needed runs today. I didn’t have much.”
A three-hit game for Denard Span highlighted the Twins offensive output. Span scored after doubling in the first, drove in Plouffe with his seventh-inning double, singled home Matt Tolbert to spark a ninth-inning rally and later scored on Justin Morneau’s single to bring the Twins within a run.
The Twins’ ninth-inning rally came up short, as they plated a pair of runs on two singles and two walks. Right fielder Michael Cuddyer drove a ball deep to center field, but Peter Bourjos was right there to make the out to end the game.
While they came up short and dropped to 17-34 overall with a 6-15 home record, the Twins were encouraged by the late rally after a tough game.
“We kept fighting,” Cuddyer said. “We never gave up, and we haven’t given up yet. We’ve got to keep playing hard.”
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.
Twins show fight, but drop fifth straight
MINNEAPOLIS — As he saw Matt Tolbert’s double headed to the gap in right, the only thing on Twins outfielder Ben Revere’s mind was scoring from first base. With his head down, Revere took off, quickly rounding second and then third.
With the relay coming in, Revere slid between the legs of catcher Alex Avila, as the throw from Tigers second baseman Scott Sizemore went wide. Revere was safe, tying the game, but he paid a price for his efforts, taking a hard hit to the chin from Avila’s knee.
“I was running top speed trying to tie this game, and luckily I was able to tie the game at that point,” Revere said. “I really did not know. Some guys said I flipped the catcher over, but I got hit in the chin a little bit. It looked like I got more of the collision than he did, but I did anything I could to sacrifice my body to score that run.”
That hustle and determination from Revere, which drew a standing ovation from the crowd of 38,938 at Target Field, was a little like the way Wednesday’s game went for the Twins. Every time they worked hard to come back from a deficit, they were knocked back down by the Tigers, who came away with the 9-7 victory for the two-game series sweep.
“Kind of a wild one out there today,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “Opportunities lost and we also picked up some big hits and battled our tails off to get back in it. But we didn’t make enough pitches.”
After coming from behind three times to tie the game or take the lead on Wednesday, the Twins were all out of comebacks in the ninth inning.
Entering the inning tied at seven runs apiece, closer Matt Capps surrendered a pair of runs in the final frame, giving the game back to the Tigers yet again.
It was a forgettable outing for Capps, who served up a two-run blast in the eighth to Jhonny Peralta, but still had a chance to pick up the win after the Twins tied it in the bottom half of the inning on Tolbert’s RBI double.
“It was a slider that I left up,” Capps said. “I just left it up over the plate and he hit it.”
According to Peralta, there was a bit of luck involved, too.
“I’m not looking for that pitch,” Peralta said. “I’m looking for a sinker and he threw me a slider right there. I don’t know how I made good contact, but it’s working.”
Peralta’s home run came just after the Twins appeared to have made the comeback needed for a thrilling victory.
Following a one-out RBI double in the seventh that cut the lead to two runs, designated hitter Jason Kubel crushed a 1-1 sinker from Tigers reliever Daniel Schlereth 460 feet into the right field seats for a three-run blast. In their 35th game, it was the Twins’ first three-run home run of the year.
Kubel’s home run was his team-leading fourth of the season, and his four RBIs in the game also put him in the team lead with 20. He added a single and a walk on a 2-for-4 day as the Twins broke out the bats for a couple late rallies that were all for naught.
“It definitely shifted the momentum on our side,” Kubel said of the home run. “But they came right back and put us back down. But we fought back, and then it got away from us again.”
With a thin bullpen, the Twins were hoping for a quality start from right-hander Scott Baker. Instead, Baker delivered a shaky, walk-filled 4 1/3 innings that put his team in a 5-2 hole through five innings.
Baker had been brilliant in his last four starts, going 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA while averaging seven innings per game. Over that span, Baker racked up 25 strikeouts against only four walks.
He continued to add to his strikeout total on Wednesday, recording six, but walks became a problem again for Baker, just as they have been for the rest of the Twins pitching staff early this season. Baker issued five bases on balls, marking a career high for the right-hander.
“Just a couple mechanical issues where at times mechanically you’re not where you need to be,” Baker said. “That translates to your hand not being where it needs to be which translates to the ball not going where you want it to go.
“Obviously we’re not robots, we’re human beings. So sometimes it’s harder to make that adjustment than others. Today, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make that adjustment.”
Baker’s walks were not the only ones that hurt the Twins on the day.
Lefty reliever Jose Mijares walked Brennan Boesch with one out in the eighth, which set up Peralta’s two-run, pinch-hit blast off Capps one batter later. With his team issuing eight walks on the day, Gardenhire was not at all pleased.
“You walk people there at the end of the ballgame, you don’t want to put anybody on base,” Gardenhire said. “That’s not being too fine, that’s just not throwing it over. You’ve got to have courage, too. Courage is throwing the ball over the plate, making them swing the bat and hopefully we’ll catch it. Sometimes you back away and you shy away and that’s not good enough.”
Gardenhire also was unhappy with the missed opportunities in the game offensively. In particular, he could not understand how center fielder Denard Span was unable to score from second base on Luke Hughes’ double in the seventh.
As Gardenhire saw it, Span should have been at least halfway to third on the play, and as the team’s fastest runner, should have scored easily.
Span eventually scored on Kubel’s home run, but it was a mistake that could have cost the Twins had it not been for their designated hitter’s three-run blast. As much as injuries, illnesses and offensive struggles have been an issue for the Twins early this season, fundamental lapses have found their way into the mix as well.
That, Gardenhire says, is something that needs to be fixed for them to start winning games.
“The fundamental stuff and the little stuff we have done so well, these guys have been part of that,” he said. “There are not any guys out there on the field who have not been part of that through Spring Training and part of the season.
“So you can’t tell me you don’t know. You can’t tell me that. It’s just not getting it done.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Niemann, Zobrist lead Rays to series sweep
MINNEAPOLIS — He may not have gotten the no-hitter, or the shutout, but Jeff Niemann pitched his best game of the season Thursday night against the Twins.
Niemann held the Twins hitless through six innings while facing the minimum until Denard Span singled on a soft liner just beyond the reach of Elliot Johnson at shortstop to lead off the seventh. Span would come around to score on a single later in the inning, but those two hits would be the only ones of the night for the Twins as the Rays won, 6-1, at Target Field.
“It was a great game and everything was clicking,” Niemann said. “This is a huge confidence boost. It’s something that I needed. The team’s been playing so well and I felt like I was that guy that was kind of stopping the momentum the whole time.
“It’s great to keep the momentum going and just get a win. It’s great.”
With the two games on the schedule Thursday, Rays manager Joe Maddon swapped the order of Niemann and right-hander Jeremy Hellickson based on statistical research. Niemann has traditionally pitched much better at night than in day games, and the switch paid off for the Rays, as they completed the series sweep.
Before the game, the Rays had a feeling Niemann was on the verge of getting back on track, especially with the way his bullpen session went earlier in the week. After struggling through his first four starts of the season, Niemann finally broke through Thursday to pick up his first win since Sept. 24, 2010.
“It was very big, because that really can get him back in a groove,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “From a couple years ago he’s taught us that he may struggle a bit, but when he catches fire, he gets really hot. Hopefully this is the game that’s going to catapult him. He looked more like he had prior to his injury last year.”
Including Niemann’s performance, Rays starters have pitched seven or more innings in 12 of the club’s last 15 games. Their ability to pitch deep in games was even more important this week against the Twins, as a short start could have taxed their bullpen with Thursday’s pair of contests and three more games this weekend.
Even with his near no-hit performance, though, Niemann still had to share the spotlight in the nightcap with Ben Zobrist, who had a career day at the plate.
Zobrist, who had a four-hit, eight-RBI performance in the day’s first game, continued to swing a hot bat in the nightcap. He wasted little time adding to his RBI total for the day, belting a two-run homer in his first at-bat of game.
With 10 RBIs on the day, Zobrist was three shy of the Major League record for RBIs in one day, according to Baseball Almanac.
“This must be what it’s like to feel like Sam Fuld,” Zobrist quipped. “I really had no idea what was happening. I just was kind of in the zone and just trying not to think about it too much. Just go up there and have good at-bats, and I just felt real comfortable, obviously, in the box.”
In the sixth and eighth innings, Zobrist led off with a single and a double, and later came around to score. He finished 8-for-14 in the series with two home runs, three doubles, a triple, 13 RBIs — one more than he had upon arriving in Minnesota — and six runs scored.
With his 10 RBIs over the two games, Zobrist now leads the league with 25 RBIs, after coming into the day tied for 13th in the Majors with 15 RBIs. Zobrist’s 10 RBIs in one day is the most since Garret Anderson had 10 in one game for the Angels on Aug. 21, 2007, against the Yankees.
Zobrist has 18 RBIs over his last five games. The last player to accomplish that feat was Sammy Sosa in 2002, from Aug. 10-14. Sosa also had 20 over five games from Aug. 8-12 the same year. The last American League player to have 18 RBIs over five games was Reggie Jackson, from June 14-18, 1969.
With 25 RBIs this month, Zobrist set a new Rays club record for the most RBIs in April, surpassing four others who had previously set the mark at 24.
“We’ve seen guys have great days before and that’s what this game is all about,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “The guy came up in a lot of big situations and he was swinging the bat pretty well today. We pitched him inside and outside, we threw changeups and breaking balls, and he hit pretty much everything we threw up there.
“Every mistake, he killed it. It was a hell of a series for him, but a lot of guys got on base for him.”
Johnny Damon also extended his hit streak in the game, singling in the third inning to put his run at 16 straight games. Damon was 4-for-9 in the two games Thursday, with three runs scored and a triple.
As the Rays continued to roll, Maddon improved to 418-417 over his career with the club, marking just the second time he has owned a winning record at the end of a day as Rays skipper, the other coming when he was 7-6 in his first season at the helm, on April 16, 2006.
With the series sweep, their first of the season, the Rays improved to 14-11, while pushing their record since April 10 to a Major League best 13-3.
“We played well in all components of the game,” Maddon said. “Pitching was great, defense was spectacular, we started hitting the ball with a lot more regularity, and really hit the ball hard and well. Just good at-bats. That’s about as well as we’ve played for three consecutive games this year.”
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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