Pain, no gain, no Crain

The news got worse for the Twins after the Indians' six-run first, with a key reliever, righthanded setup man Jesse Crain, headed for the DL.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: May 16, 2007 - 12:18 AM

CLEVELAND - Ramon Ortiz might need fixing, but Jesse Crain has broken down.

Crain, a key righthanded setup man, is headed to the disabled list because of a recurring sore shoulder. He's headed back to the Twin Cites, where he's expected to undergo an magnetic resonance imaging exam.

It was the worst news out of the Twins clubhouse after being pounded 15-7 by the Indians at Jacobs Field on Tuesday night.

"He says the pain in there is affecting his ability to finish pitches," Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said.

Righthander Julio DePaula will be called up from Class AAA Rochester to take Crain's spot on the roster. DePaula has a 3.15 ERA in 15 games for the Red Wings. He pitched one-third of an inning Tuesday against Richmond.

Cleveland scored six unearned runs with Crain on the mound in the sixth inning Tuesday because of a fielding error by third baseman Nick Punto. Crain, however, hit Victor Martinez and gave up four hits, including a two-run homer to Grady Sizemore, and was replaced after two-thirds of an inning by Juan Rincon.

Crain was shut down for seven games last month because of tendinitis in his shoulder.

Glen Perkins, Matt Guerrier and Dennys Reyes also made relief appearances on a night Anderson and bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek were on the phone so much they had cauliflower ears by the end of the game.

It was because Ortiz, who started the season 3-0, has suddenly taken a hard right turn. The righthander lasted only one inning, his shortest outing since Sept. 3, 2000.

Michael Cuddyer's two-run homer in the first gave the Twins an early lead. It was answered quickly by a sacrifice fly by Victor Martinez and a three-run homer by Jhonny Peralta on a belt-high slider from Ortiz (3-4) to put Cleveland up 4-2.

Kelly Shoppach added a two-run double off another high pitch as Cleveland took a 6-2 lead. It was the sixth consecutive game a Twins opponent has scored in the first inning -- but the six runs and seven hits were season highs.

The root of Ortiz's problems?

"Ball one, ball two every hitter," Ortiz said. "They get to good hitting. [I left] pitches up and in the middle."

Ortiz has a 12.27 ERA over his past three starts. That's a worse run than the last three starts made by Sidney Ponson (9.41) -- and Ponson was designated for assignment Sunday.

"He was using the fastball inside," Anderson said of Ortiz's early outings. "He's gotten away from it with slider, slider, slider. [Tuesday] we had a plan. We strummed it into his head about using the fastball and he didn't throw it over. And he was pitching away from contact."

The highs on a night of lows were Justin Morneau hitting two homers on his 26th birthday and Jason Kubel hitting his first homer of the year -- the first for a Twins left fielder.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com