Carroll pleads his innocence after ejection

Jamey Carroll admits he's no angel -- over his 10-year career, in his 1,108 major league games, he has probably blurted some things in the heat of the moment that warranted an ejection.

What he said Friday, though, doesn't fall into that category.

After beating out what he believed was an infield hit in the eighth inning, Carroll was shocked when first base umpire Alan Porter called him out.

"I just said, 'I thought the tie goes to the runner,' " Carroll said afterward, and that led to a far bigger shock. Porter immediately turned and threw the Twins infielder out of the game.

"I thought I was safe. I've said, in my 10 years, a lot worse things before," Carroll said. "I didn't cuss, I didn't say anything that I thought warranted that. Obviously, he has his opinion."

Seems so. Porter responded, "That's not what you said," when Carroll complained, but the umpire never told him what he believed he heard.

"I'm anxious to see [Porter's] report" to Major League Baseball, Carroll said. "I want to see what I said to get thrown out."

"I was just mad because Carroll got thrown out. He doesn't say enough to get thrown out of a baseball game, and he didn't," said Gardenhire, who added that replays confirmed that Carroll was safe. "He doesn't deserve to get thrown out. I did."

Enjoying the view Cole De Vries looked right at home in the Twins clubhouse Friday, and why not? He's been there before -- on a tour.

"So this is kind of a first. It's awesome -- look at this place," said the Eden Prairie native, who got a close-up look at Target Field during TwinsFest in January, one day after his major league debut in Chicago.

He took the loss Thursday, giving up six runs (though only three earned) in five innings, but the Twins saw enough to give him a second start, Tuesday against Oakland. The trick now, De Vries said, will be to put his circumstances, his excitement, out of his mind and prepare like he is facing Scranton.

"I just have to try to stay on my normal routine that I had in Triple-A," he said. "Do my throwing as usual, and try to keep it as much as I can how it was down there."

• General Manager Terry Ryan said Nick Blackburn, on the disabled list because of a strained oblique, will throw in the bullpen Saturday, and if all goes well, he could be sent on a rehab assignment, possibly to Class AAA Rochester.