About 40 minutes before Tuesday's game, a bewildered-looking Michael Fulmer trekked from Target Field's visiting clubhouse over to join the Twins, with only a backpack and the clothes on his back.
He probably didn't realize when he departed Detroit for this Tigers road trip that he wouldn't be coming back to the home he's known since 2015.
And if that wasn't weird enough, he went on to watch as his former team beat his new team 5-3. Only a day before, Fulmer had given up the tying runs that helped the Twins to a 5-3, 10-inning victory. Fulmer said when he heard of his trade, the first thought he shared with Detroit manager A.J. Hinch was how apparently Monday's performance "wasn't too bad of a thing."
"That's a weird one," Fulmer said postgame from his new Twins locker. "It's a little easier, quick travel. But again, it's hard to say goodbye sometimes, too, to those guys. Some of those guys I played with a long time.
"But right now, I just couldn't be happier to, honestly, not face this lineup anymore."
After blowing Monday's save giving up four hits and two runs in ⅓ inning, Fulmer watched the Twins' hitters from a much more comfortable vantage point in the same dugout. He saw Mark Contreras drill his first MLB home run to lead off the third inning. He saw Nick Gordon execute two sacrifice flies, the last of which gave the Twins a 3-2 lead in the fifth.
But he also had to witness former teammates Jonathan Schoop and Riley Greene both smack RBI doubles in the top of the fifth to tie the score, before three consecutive RBI singles from Akil Baddoo, Greene and Javier Baez in the seventh won the game.
Jorge Lopez, another reliever the Twins added earlier in the day from Baltimore, was also in the Twins' clubhouse in time for the game, while starter Trevor Mahle from Cincinnati will arrive Wednesday. All came from teams with slim postseason hopes to the 54-49 Twins, who have a one-game lead in the American League Central, which includes 42-63 Detroit, floating just above last place in the division.
Twins starter Chris Archer — who allowed only two hits and two runs with three walks but put up a season-high eight strikeouts in his 4⅓ innings — said Tuesday was "the coolest trade deadline" he'd ever experienced as a player. Archer said the Twins players had thought Lopez and Mahle could be good additions, while Fulmer was an unexpected but welcome choice.
"[Lopez] was somebody when [the Orioles] were here, we were like, 'That'd be a nice guy to have right there. Wonder if he's available,'" Archer said. "… We're playing GM just like you guys are."
The Twins' success in the trade market made the loss in the game sting a little less.
Well, maybe not for Fulmer, who was still trying to process all the feelings of going from being a Tiger to a Twin within minutes.
"It was definitely a rush of emotions. Kind of happened really quick," Fulmer said. "… Being that close to the game, it's a little nerve-wracking. Didn't get everything in [pregame] I needed to get in. But no, it's good.
"I'm excited to be here."
