By Brandon Warne
With the Twins placing utility man Eduardo Nunez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique muscle, the club purchased the contract of veteran infielder Doug Bernier from Triple-A Rochester. Nunez had tweaked his oblique in batting practice some six or seven days prior — per manager Paul Molitor — and was improving before suffering a setback prior to Tuesday night’s game.
Bernier is no stranger to Twins fans as a player who is now in his third season of seeing action with the big club. Bernier, who was named team MVP at Rochester last year, has seen action in 40 games with the Twins in the major leagues, hitting .233/.352/.283 in 73 plate appearances. Bernier wasn’t exactly lighting it up in the International League — .250/.299/.319 — but the Twins value his leadership and veteran presence more than anything, as he’s not expected to see a ton of playing time regardless of how long the stint lasts.
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Outfielder Eddie Rosario made his first major league start on Wednesday night, and wasted little time asserting his presence with a first-pitch home run off Scott Kazmir. Rosario is now one of six Twins to homer in their first big league at-bat, as this list was curated by Twins public relations director Dustin Morse:
Rick Renick – 7/11/68
Dave McKay – 8/22/75
Gary Gaetti – 9/20/81
Andre David – 6/29/84
Luke Hughes – 4/28/10
Rosario is the 117th player to homer in his first major league at bat and the 29th to do so on the first pitch. There have been 13 Twins to homer in their big league debut, including Tim Laudner, Kent Hrbek and Gary Gaetti per WCCO’s Twins Blog.
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INJURY UPDATES
Reliever Tim Stauffer (right intercostal strain) is playing catch, though he remains without a timetable to return.
Reliever Casey Fien (right shoulder strain) is further behind than Stauffer, as he is still receiving treatment and is not yet throwing. Previous updates earlier this week suggested a possible Thursday return to a throwing program, so that will be monitored in the days to come. Twins general manager Terry Ryan simply said Fien was “close” to throwing in the “not too distant future” but declined to offer a distinct timetable, instead deferring to the team trainers as far as a plan for Fien’s next step in the rehabilitation process.
No update was made for outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, whose right hip flexor strain is likely to only keep him out the minimum 15 days. Arcia told reporters before Monday’s game that he felt he’d be ready for game action in seven-to-10 days.
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OLD FRIEND ALERT
Sam Deduno had a start to forget for the Houston Astros, allowing 10 earned runs in just 4.2 innings as the Astros were swept by the Texas Rangers Wednesday night. Deduno’s season ERA jumped from 2.70 to 7.00, as the 31-year-old right-hander was making just his second start of the young season.
Chris Colabello is off to a red-hot start for the Blue Jays, following up Tuesday night’s solid 2-for-4 effort with a 4-for-4 effort as Mark Buehrle outdueled C.C. Sabathia for a 5-1 Toronto win. Colabello hit a double in each game and even managed to steal a base in Wednesday night’s action. Also of note: Colabello has been playing left field, a position he really hasn’t played since Indy ball.
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TRIVIA
Which current MLB broadcaster was on the opposing team the day Torii Hunter hit his first major-league home run (April 15, 1999)?
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AROUND THE AFFILIATES
Rochester (15-10): Josmil Pinto homered in the fourth inning, but that was only offense the Red Wings could muster as they fell 3-1. A familiar face earned the win for Indianapolis, as Deolis Guerra worked 2.1 scoreless innings in relief for his second win of the season. Deibinson Romero and Pedro Florimon are also on that Indians squad. Pat Dean took the loss for Rochester, tossing 5.2 innings of three-run ball with just one strikeout. No Red Wings player had more than one hit.
Chattanooga (13-12): With a visit from Twins general manager Terry Ryan looming, the Lookouts dropped a tight one 4-3 to visiting Jackson. Alex Wimmers started and went six innings while allowing just two earned runs. He walked four and fanned seven. Tim Shibuya took the loss, allowing a pair of earned runs in as many innings. Offensively, Byron Buxton went hitless and only Max Kepler (2-for-4) had more than a single hit. Travis Harrison and Adam Brett Walker each had doubles.
Fort Myers (11-16): The Miracle buried Bradenton early with eight runs in the first three innings on the way to a 9-0 win. Chih-Wei Hu tossed five shutout innings, scattering five hits with a pair of strikeouts to earn his fourth win and lower his season ERA to 1.24. Jose Velez and Alexis Tapia combined for four shutout innings with four strikeouts and just one hit allowed to close it out. Offensively, Niko Goodrum had his fourth home run while Zach Granite, Engelb Vielma, Alex Swim and Bryan Haar — hitters 1-4 in the Miracle lineup — each had two hits. The Miracle banged out 12 hits as an offense in the win.
Cedar Rapids (16-11): The Kernels rode a strong effort from starting pitcher John Curtiss to an 8-2 win over Wisconsin at Fox Cities Stadium. Curtiss fanned eight and walked none over six innings, as he allowed just two earned runs. Trevor Hildenberger and Cameron Booser followed with three perfect innings, fanning five in the process. Trey Vavra and Max Murphy muscled up in the middle of the Kernels batting order, pounding out three hits apiece to account for most of the team’s eight hits. Former Twins draft pick Dustin Demuth played second base for the Timber Rattlers in the loss.
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BY THE NUMBERS
.385/.385/.423 – Joe Mauer’s batting line to the pull side in 2015 entering Wednesday night’s game. Mauer is a career .278/.278/.396 hitter to the pull side, so this suggests a seismic shift in hitting ideology thus far this season.
.250/.250/.429 – Mauer’s batting line to the push side this season. For his career, he’s hit an unconscionable .435/.426/.678 in that direction. That’s not a misprint; that’s a 1.104 OPS to the opposite field.
3 – Number of American League players who are older than Hunter, who’ll turn 40 in July. The players are Koji Uehara, Joe Nathan and R.A. Dickey. Hunter is ninth oldest across the MLB, with NL players Tim Hudson, Rafael Betancourt, Ichiro Suzuki, Bartolo Colon and former teammate LaTroy Hawkins ahead of him.
3 – Number of Twins on the 40-man roster who are younger than Rosario (born 9/28/91). Those players are all at Double-A Chattanooga: Max Kepler (2/10/93), Miguel Sano (5/11/93) and Jorge Polanco (7/5/93).
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TRIVIA ANSWER
Fox Sports 1’s C.J. Nitkowski worked second for the Detroit Tigers on that day, relieving starter Brian Moehler. Moehler gave up three home runs in that game, two to Corey Koskie and the one to Hunter in the fifth inning of that game at Tiger Stadium.