Lefthander Jaime Garcia will make his debut tonight for the Twins. It could also be his only appearance for the Twins.
The Twins acquired Garcia on Monday as part of a three-player trade and about $100,000 in cash. A lot has happened since then. The Twins have lost four straight while Cleveland has won seven straight and Kansas City eight straight. Now the Twins are six games back in the central division and four back in the wild card race.
And after dealing for Garcia to help them compete, they could move Garcia before the deadline. Indications are that teams are still interested in Garcia, who is not among the sexy names on the trade block but won can deepen a rotation.
Perhaps the Twins can persuade the front office to just hold pat if they emerge from the beatdown in Tinseltown with three wins against the Athletics. It will be up to Garcia to get the Twins off to the right start.
"We're all looking forward to having him pitch and compete tonight," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "As much as it might be a lift that has some potential carryover, the main thing is that were trying to figure out how to win a game."
Byron Buxton hit the first pitch tonight for a home run in his first rehab game for Class AAA Rochester. Buxton (groin muscle) was going to be activated during the Dodgers series before migraines set him back. Now he'll likely play at Rochester through the weekend before the Twins re-evaluate him.
Etc.
Phil Hughes underwent a battery of tests at the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday. "I read a report that was quite extensive on a number of tests he had," Molitor said. "Probably understood about ten percent of the words that were in the reports." Molitor said a lot of arm-related symptoms have been ruled out and evidence is pointing at thoracic outlet syndrome. Hughes is going to take the tests to Dallas-area specialist Gregory Pearl to have him look at them.
A group of players, and a couple members of Joe Mauer's family, spent Thursday's off-day playing golf at the famed Pebble Beach golf course. Most reviews came back in single words, like, "Awesome," and "Spectacular"
Twins
Brian Dozier, 2B
Max Kepler, RF
Miguel Sano, 3B
Joe Mauer, 1B
Eddie Rosario, LF
Robbie Grossman, DH
Zack Granite, CF
Ehire Adrianza, SS
Jason Castro, C
Jaime Garcia, LHP
Athletics
Rajai Davis, CF
Marcus Simien, SS
Ryon Healy, 1B
Khris Davis, LF
Jed Lowrie, DH
Matt Chapman, 3B
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Matt Joyce, RF
Adam Rosales, 2B
Daniel Gossett, RHP
