Pedro Hernandez got a little timely coaching that helped him survive the most dangerous inning of his start Sunday. From himself.
The 24-year-old lefthander, one of many potential candidates for a spot in the Twins rotation next year, was in trouble in the fifth inning, trailing 3-0 with runners at second and third and Wil Myers at the plate. The Rays rookie outfielder had hit a titanic upper-deck blast off Hernandez an inning earlier, so manager Ron Gardenhire reluctantly signaled for an intentional walk to load the bases.
"You just hate putting people on, because now you force the pitcher to throw the ball over, but you have to do those things sometimes. That kid Myers is really swinging the bat really good right now, so you don't want him to kill you there," Gardenhire said. "And I wanted to give Hernandez a chance to at least get through that inning."
That brought former Twin Delmon Young to the plate, however, a righthanded hitter with power. Hernandez gave himself a mental pep talk.
"I felt confident. A voice in my mind said, 'Let's go, it's time to fight right now,' " Hernandez said. "I throw a really good pitch to him and [right fielder Ryan] Doumit made a really good play. So he saved my inning."
Young's long fly ball ended Hernandez's day, a decent outing as he auditions for next year; he cruised through three innings without a hit, then gave up homers to Myers and Sean Rodriguez as his pitch count mounted.
Hernandez had one other notable incident, however; at one point, plate umpire Alan Porter began gesturing at Hernandez and yelling at him.
"I think [Hernandez] showed some emotion — a where-was-that-pitch type thing — and Alan came out from behind the plate. And I just wanted to make sure we calmed everything down," Gardenhire said. "I don't want an umpire yelling at one of my players, and I don't want my players showing up an umpire, either."
