The Minnesota Twins are welcoming the Cleveland Indians to Target Field for the first time this season with this three-game weekend set. The Twins got Corey Kluber Friday night and have Danny Salazar and left-hander T.J. House over the course of the rest of the weekend. The upshot here is that it’s a pretty solid slate of opponents, and perhaps a good thing the Twins miss Carlos Carrasco — fine after taking a ball off the face in his previous start, but just pushed back a day — on this trip. Carrasco was downright unhittable down the stretch for the Indians last year and has resumed that warpath early this season as well.
There is, however, an old friend in the opposing dugout, as right-handed reliever Anthony Swarzak has made his first trip back to face the team that selected him in a 2004 draft that also netted the club mainstays Trevor Plouffe and Glen Perkins — and the same draft in which Phil Hughes was selected. Swarzak has worked the front end of the Indians bullpen thus far, totaling 4.1 innings over three appearances with a couple strikeouts, no walks and just one earned run (2.08 ERA). Swarzak has pitched exclusively when Cleveland has been behind this season, which — like the Twins — has been more frequent than the team would like with a record of 3-6. Swarzak hasn’t worked since April 14, so there would seem to be a decent chance he’d see work over the weekend.
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The Twins added another pitcher to the disabled list Friday, as left-handed reliever Brian Duensing has been sidelined by a strained right intercostal muscle. Duensing joined starter Ricky Nolasco as the two Twins pitchers waylaid by injuries, with left-handed Minnesota native Caleb Thielbar being promoted as Duensing’s replacement.
Duensing noted that he first felt the issue with his intercostal muscle during the home opener but had managed it over the subsequent few days before it flared up again on Thursday. “It was kind of through the outing,” Duensing said about exactly when the pain — termed by him as a pinching sensation — took over his body. “I think it was the second-to-last pitch when I really felt that pinching sensation.”
The veteran lefty remains confident that it should be a minimalist stint on the 15-day disabled list — his first such stint as he enters his seventh year in the bigs. “We feel like if we give it some time to unflare and wind down, we should be alright.”
Nolasco threw some long toss and will throw a bullpen on Sunday. Expect another update then. Twins GM Terry Ryan said that Nolasco is doing fine. “So far, so good,” Ryan reiterated.
Eduardo Escobar left the game in the bottom of the eighth after he was hit by a Kluber pitch on the top of the foot. Molitor said postgame that Escobar wanted to stay in, but that he was going to make a defensive switch to bring in Shane Robinson later in the game, so he went ahead and made the move anyway.
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Chris Herrmann may have caught the first two games of the season for Mike Pelfrey, but skipper Paul Molitor suggests that’s way more coincidental rather than a trend. “It’s more coincidental than anything,” Molitor noted. “I’m not big on personal catchers and those types of things. That’s just the way it’s worked out at this point.” To Herrmann’s credit, he did manage to have a good night at the plate on Friday, going 2-for-4 while scoring the tying run and driving in another.
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Around the affiliates:
Eddie Rosario’s grand slam accounted for all four runs in Rochester’s 6-4 road loss to Pawtucket. Rosario took Red Sox prospect Henry Owens deep for the blast — his first of the season. Rochester amassed just seven hits, with Doug Bernier the only Red Wing with more than one. Aaron Hicks went 0-for-4, dropping his season line to .194/.286/.452. Jason Wheeler got the start and allowed two earned runs in five innings with four strikeouts. Relievers Lester Oliveros, A.J. Achter (losing pitcher) and Michael Tonkin were all tagged for at least one run in the loss.
Chattanooga also found itself on the losing end of a 6-4 decision, and that was also in spite of a grand slam from one of the Lookouts. Miguel Sano’s blast in the third inning gave the Lookouts a 4-2 lead, but Birmingham scored single runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings to hand Chattanooga its second loss of the season. Byron Buxton went 0-for-4, and the grand slam was Sano’s only hit as he’s now hitting .160/.323/.400 for the season. No Lookouts player had more than one hit in the game. Jose Berrios started and allowed three earned runs on eight hits over 4.2 innings. Berrios fanned nine and walked three. Nick Burdi took the loss, tossing two innings while allowing just one unearned run.
Chih-Wei Hu had it all working on Friday night for Fort Myers, as he threw seven scoreless innings as the Miracle shut out the St. Lucie Mets. Hu fanned 10 and allowed just three baserunners before giving way to Tim Shibuya and J.T. Chargois, who each tossed a clean frame to seal the shutout. Jason Kanzler had a two-run home run to open the scoring — after snapping an 0-for-23 skid the night before with a bunt single per team broadcaster Brice Zimmerman — before later doubling and, in a twist of fate, being later ejected for arguing a checked swing. Fort Myers improved to 4-5 with the win.
Cedar Rapids also managed a win thanks to a four-run bottom of the eighth. Max Murphy was 3-for-4, and Trey Vavra had a pinch-hit three-run home run that provided the Kernels with some cushion in the eighth. Stephen Gonsalves got the start and was dazzling, fanning 10 and walking just one while scattering five hits over seven innings of one-run ball. Zach Tiller got the win with a pair of scoreless innings in relief.
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By the numbers
*It was encouraging to see the Twins’ bullpen pick up Mike Pelfrey after the tall right-hander got the early gate. It wasn’t an overall terrible outing for Pelfrey, who worked in and out of trouble over his five innings, but the bullpen picked him up in a big way. Even with Tim Stauffer allowing an earned run on Brandon Moss’ solo home run in the sixth — his lone inning of work — the bullpen combined for six innings with the following stat line: 1 ER, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts and 1 walk. For a bullpen that has come under fire quite frankly all the way back to spring training, this was a solid effort to help pick up a starter in need. The key will be sustaining it.
* 1.08 – That’s the ERA of reliever Aaron Thompson, who threw two scoreless innings to help out the crew that gave Pelfrey a little help in Friday night’s game. Thompson barely made the club — in fact, solely due to Ervin Santana’s suspension — but has been one of Molitor’s most trusted assets coming out of the bullpen early in the season. Thompson has a 0.48 WHIP and a miniscule .111 batting average against for a little context to how good he’s been over this short sample size. Of course, things can change quickly in baseball — especially for relievers. But the early returns have been solid on this left-hander, whom Molitor conceded has the leg up on newly-promoted Thielbar for higher-leverage work.