Injuries big issue for Twins
Manager Rocco Baldelli,
At one point during Sunday’s series finale against the Indians — the Twins’ final meeting in their home park this season against the three-time defending AL Central champions they are trying to unseat — Rocco Baldelli’s team featured two infielders playing out of their normal positions; the third-string catcher behind the plate; a pitcher who started the season in Class A; and two outfielders who didn’t yet have a major league hit.
This probably isn’t the way the rookie manager envisioned his drive to look.
For the Twins, the dinged-up outnumber the injury-free at this point:
DH Nelson Cruz is playing despite a ruptured tendon in his left wrist, and missed the last two games when it became sore once more. He has spent two stints on the injured list because of the wrist.
Outfielder Max Kepler has been playing despite a “knot” in his left scapula, which forced him out of two games in the last week.
Eddie Rosario endured a sore left shoulder and elbow on the Twins’ most first stretch recent road trip. The outfielder has stayed in the lineup — though he’s hitting .161 with one extrabase hit in September.
Miguel Sano has a back that prevented from playing Sunday.
Sam Dyson? Sore biceps. Marwin Gonzalez? Stiff oblique. C.J. Cron? Bothersome right thumb. Jake Cave, Kyle Gibson and Mitch Garver? A variety of conditions that they’re fighting to overcome.
And the season is over for outfielder Byron Buxton, who was set to undergo surgery on his injured left shoulder. sore him
Dodgers: With a 7-3 victory over the Orioles in Baltimore, the Dodgers clinched the NL West title for the seventh straight season. Corey Seager hit two HRs and had five RBIs and Walker Buehler (13-3) allowed just four hits and struck out 11 in seven scorless innings in the win. It’s the earliest that the Dodgers (94-52) have ever clinched the division, both in terms of date and games.
Brewers: Reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich left the Brewers’ road game against the Marlins after fouling a ball off his right knee during the first inning. Yelich immediately hit the ground and remained their for several minutes before standing up and limping off the field. Trent Grisham continued Yelich’s at-bat and struck out.
Yankees: OF Mike Tauchman became the Yankees’ 30th player on the IL this season, the most in the major leagues in at least 15 years. The 28-year-old strained his left calf Sunday and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Acquired from the Rockies on March 23, Tauchman hit .277 with 13 HRs in 260 at-bats over 87 games. He’s the Yankees 15th player currently on the IL. MLB said the Yankees’ total on the IL is the most since at least 2004, topping the 28 for the Dodgers in both 2016 and 2017. The Red Sox had 27 in 2012 . ... OF Giancarlo Stanton could be nearing a return. The former NL MVP while with the Marlins homered in a simulated game at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa, Fla., and also worked in left field and ran sprints. The slugger has been limited to nine big league games this year, hitting .290 with one HR and seven RBIs. He strained his left biceps March 31 in his third game, strained a shoulder and calf during his rehab and didn’t return until June 18. A week later, he strained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an awkward headfirst slide into third base . ... RHP Ben Heller was activated from the 60-day IL. Heller had Tommy John surgery on April 6 last year.
Orioles: GM Mike Elias fired 14 members of the organization, most from the player development department and international operations. Elias has dismissed 25 people in an overhaul of the system that he inherited when taking the job in November. The names of those most recently fired weren’t released by the team.
Cubs: Touted prospect Nico Hoerner had three hits and four RBIs in his big league debut and made some nice plays at shortstop as the Cubs beat the Padres 10-2 on Monday night in San Diego to snap a three-game losing streak. The 22-year-old Hoerner, the Cubs’ first-round draft pick out of Stanford in 2018, was promoted from Double-A Tennessee earlier in the day because All-Star SS Javier Baez and Addison Russell are sidelined by injuries. The Cubs hold the NL’s second wild-card spot. Nicholas Castellanos hit a two-run HR and Kyle Schwarber had a solo shot to back Kyle Hendricks (10-9), who allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits while striking out five and walking just one in 52⁄3.