Hendriks day-to-day; hit on his pitching hand by line drive

Righthander Liam Hendriks is day-to-day with a bruised right hand after being struck there by a line drive off the bat of Orioles infielder Brian Roberts. Hendriks was struck in the third inning and immediately left the game.

``I tried to stop the ball with my hand instead of my face," Hendriks said.

He did not have X-Rays taken, and he had full range of motion, which is a good sign. But his availability for Opening Day is unclear. The Twins need a fifth starter on April 7, and Hendriks is a candidate.

Hendriks planned to ice the hand overnight and see what he can do on Wednesday.

The Twins beat Baltimore 9-5.

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The Twins reassigned righthanders Samuel Deduno and P.J. Walters to the minor league camp on Tuesday. That trims the clubhouse to 29 players. Since three of those players - Tim Wood, Rafael Perez and Rich Harden - are injured, that means the live roster is 26.

If they go with 12 pitchers, as expected, one pitcher will have to be cut. It's hard to see Tyler Robertson sticking in this scenario. They can keep Liam Hendriks and then use him when the Twins need a fifth starter on Apr. 7. Scott Diamond should be ready to join the Twins on April 12 or just after that. Then the Twins will have to decide who goes to make room for Diamond.

Miguel Sano is back as an extra player - starting at third and batting sixth. He went 2-for-5 last Thursday against the Yankees in his first-ever game with the major league team.

Sano reported for duty and grabbed a stall where the pitchers dressed. Pedro Florimon came over and promptly directed him to a stall next to Wilkin Ramirez. Ramirez doesn't have much major league experience but is considered a high-character guy and could be a good influence on Sano.

Ramirez, who is starting in right field, is batting .538 over his last five games.

This will be a good test for the Twins. Orioles righthander Kevin Gausman has been very impressive this spring.

Orioles

1. Nick Markakis, DH
2. Brian Roberts, 2B
3. Adam Jones, CF
4. Chris Davis, 1B
5. Matt Wieters, C
6. J.J. Hardy, SS
7. Nate McLouth, LF
8. Nolan Reimold, RF
9. Manny Machado, 3B

Pitching: Kevin Gausman, RHP

Twins

1. Aaron Hicks, CF
2. Brian Dozier, 2B
3. Josh Willingham, LF
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Ryan Doumit, C
6. Miguel Sano, 3B
7. Chris Parmelee, 1B
8. Wilkin Ramirez, RF
9. Pedro Florimon, SS