Kyle Garlick recalled from Saints as Twins put Nick Gordon on injured list

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Toby Gardenhire's name has appeared on Kyle Garlick's phone three or four times over the past two seasons, and every time, the St. Paul Saints manager was calling to send Garlick back to the major leagues.

So "it was really good seeing his name on there" Wednesday night, Garlick said with a laugh. The 31-year-old outfielder was recalled from Class AAA to replace Nick Gordon, who was placed on the injured list Friday, and with Angels starting lefthander Reid Detmers on the mound, was immediately inserted into the Twins' lineup.

"Back-to-back lefties, too," Garlick noted, with Patrick Sandoval scheduled to pitch for the Angels on Saturday. "When I saw that, I got excited to get a little playing time in front of family and friends. That's nice."

Actually, the timing of the callup is remarkable for the southern California native. There are tourists who plan visits to Disneyland for months who don't have things work out this well.

"They called Wednesday, so I got in early [Thursday], like 11 a.m. My girlfriend came and picked me up," said Garlick, who recently bought a condo roughly 30 minutes from Angels Stadium. "Got to see my dad last night. We got some dinner. I slept in my own bed. Fantastic."

He hopes it goes as well on the field, or at least better than it did in St. Paul, where he was hitting only .210 with five home runs.

"Haven't been playing extremely well down there, I'm not going to lie. I've been grinding through it," Garlick said. "Been trying to get some swings in the cage. Been barreling some balls up right at people, too, which doesn't help. We've been facing some good arms down there. But I'm just excited to be back and get some ABs up here."

Joey Gallo wasn't in the Twins starting lineup on Friday, but that was a consequence of Detmers, not the ball that Gallo drove violently into his right shin while batting on Wednesday.

"It's tough to hurt that guy. He somehow evaded serious injury," Rocco Baldelli marveled, adding later that "he doesn't feel pain like a normal human."

Gallo entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning.

Gordon apparently has no such superpower, however, so while Gallo seems likely to avoid 10 days on the injured list, the versatile utility man is likely out for much longer than that. Gordon's injury is a fractured right tibia, a condition that figures to sideline him at least a month and more likely two.

"He's not going to be playing baseball anytime soon," Baldelli said of Gordon, who is wearing a walking boot and flew back to Minnesota on Friday. "Unfortunately."

Polanco said in the clubhouse that he feels much better, but the Twins believe the tightness hasn't completely healed. "We're going to test him out, see if we can warm him up a little bit. See where he's by gametime," Baldelli said. "This is more of an evaluation over the weekend."

The evaluation may not have taken that long. Roughly an hour after Baldelli said that, Class AAA second baseman Edouard Julien, the likely replacement if Polanco is placed on the injured list, was removed from the Saints' game in Columbus after two plate appearances Friday night.

The manager was much more definitive about another injured player, one who didn't make the trip to California. Max Kepler, on the injured list with a left hamstring strain is eligible to be activated on Monday. But "he's not going to be back on Monday," Baldelli said. "That, I have a feeling for."

Lewis homers twice

Royce Lewis hit two home runs and led a 14-hit attack as the St. Paul Saints beat the host Columbus Clippers 8-1 on Friday. Lewis went 3-for-4 and scored two runs.

Etc.

Yennier Cano appeared in 10 games for the Twins last year, but the Cuban righthander's MLB debut didn't go well. Cano walked 11 batters in his 13 2/3 innings of work, and allowed 14 runs, a 9.22 ERA.

But Baldelli remembers him as "a pretty tough at-bat, especially against righthanded hitters. He comes from some interesting angles. Lots of potential and talent."