Travel trouble leaves Twins shorthanded for Game 2

Teams are allowed to add a 26th player to the roster when there is a doubleheader. When that doubleheader is scheduled a day in advance, that player is eligible for the second game only.

The Twins intended to take advantage of this rule, but travel trouble Thursday left them with 25 players for the second game vs. the Astros.

After Wednesday's game was rained out, the Twins announced that lefthander Andrew Albers would be promoted from Class AAA Rochester as their extra player for the doubleheader. But when Buddy Boshers landed on the disabled list because of elbow inflammation after pitching in the first game, it enabled the club to add Albers as an injury replacement instead.

He wasn't the only pitcher the Twins wanted to add. There were plans to call up a righthander. Indications are that it was Pat Light, who was acquired from Boston for Fernando Abad on Aug. 1. But Light's flight from Syracuse, N.Y., was canceled and he would not have arrived in time.

So the Twins went with 25 players for the second game. That included three available relievers — Albers, Ryan Pressly and Brandon Kintzler — because manager Paul Molitor didn't want to use anyone used in the first game, when starter Jose Berrios lasted only two-plus innings.

"We had some other moves planned," interim General Manager Rob Antony said. "But with the injury and the travel situation, that's where we are at. We do have the pitcher here [Albers] that can give us some length."

Albers did just that, pitching the last six innings of Game 2 for Tommy Milone.

Boshers gave up six runs in the fifth inning of Game 1. His ERA jumped from 3.86 to 5.84.

"I didn't get the word until I came up here after the game,'' Molitor said. "I haven't heard anything prior to today that has been ongoing."

Milone said he began to feel discomfort during the second inning of Game 2. He managed soreness between starts when he was in the rotation and thinks moving to the bullpen, then back to starting, has led to more discomfort that normal.

"It's generally in the shoulder/bicep area," he said, "so we are going to get it checked out and see what's going on."

Righthander J.T. Chargois wore a little grin on his face after the first game. "That was more like it," he said.

But he maintained a 1.59 ERA in 17 games after his return as he waited for another shot. When the Twins placed Trevor May on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, Chargois got that chance. He wants to prove that he learned a lot from that rough debut.

"I'm not going to remember much about the baseball part of it," Chargois said. "Being around here and getting in the atmosphere and the aura of the major leagues out of the way helped a lot.

"It's just a locker room now. A weight room, a training room and a baseball field outside. It was kind of a culture shock for me, the first time."

Thursday, he showed better control of his fastball, which hits 97-98 miles per hour, in working 2⅔ scoreless innings.

• Kennys Vargas homered from both sides of the plate in Game 1, joining Roy Smalley, Chili Davis and Ryan Doumit as Twins to accomplish the feat. Vargas was 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts in his three August starts before Thursday.