DETROIT — Comerica Park isn't located along the Gulf Coast, in the Pacific Northwest or inside an Amazon jungle. It only seems that way to the Twins.

A stubborn rain postponed the Twins' second-half startup Friday, what was supposed to be a doubleheader to make up a May 9 cancellation. Instead, they became the fifth and sixth scheduled Twins-Tigers games put off by bad weather in the past three seasons.

The Twins' prize for all this meteorological mayhem? Five games in 58 hours, plus an bonus visit to Michigan next month.

"You really hope you don't have to go through these type of situations, but we can handle it," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We have to play a lot of good baseball in a very short amount of time."

The clock starts at 12:10 p.m. Central on Saturday, followed at 5:10 p.m. with the regularly scheduled game. The teams will finish the series at 12:10 p.m. Sunday, and the Twins will depart for Chicago, where they face another doubleheader Monday, beginning at 4:10 p.m.

The remaining game at Comerica Park will fill what was supposed to be an off day in the middle of a late August homestand; the Twins will visit Detroit on Aug. 30 for a 1:10 p.m. game, then immediately return home.

Saturday's games, like Monday's, will last only seven innings, but the makeup game in August will be a nine-inning game.

The seven-inning part of this is helpful to us. That's significantly fewer innings that we will need to cover to get through these games, and that will be a good thing for us," Baldelli said. "Because that is a lot of baseball."

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week that he expects doubleheader games to return to nine innings next season, a change that Baldelli said he will support, if a little reluctantly.

"Doubleheaders do set you back a long way when you're playing 18 innings in one day," he said. "We will enjoy [the shorter version] while they're here. If they stay, that'd be great. If they don't we will play on."

Rotation juggling

Friday's scheduled Twins pitchers will remain the same Saturday: Rookie righthander Charlie Barnes in the first game and Kenta Maeda in the second. The Twins will then keep J.A. Happ in his scheduled Sunday start, at least in part to avoid using him against the White Sox, who have battered the lefthander for 15 runs in seven innings this season.

Bailey Ober's start will be pushed back to the series in Chicago — a team the rookie has already faced three times this year. Baldelli said the Twins haven't set their rotation for the White Sox series yet. Expect Jose Berrios to pitch Monday, however. Baldelli said it makes sense to use starters most likely to go deeper into games on a day when there are two games for the bullpen to cover.

As for Barnes, a fourth-round pick in 2017 who will be making his MLB debut, "I'm looking forward to watching him pitch," the manager said.

The Twins chose the Clemson alum, who has won three of his past four starts for Class AAA St. Paul and owns a 3.88 ERA, because "he's got a very good feel for what he's doing. He's also been working on picking up the arm strength, the velocity," Baldelli said. "He's a guy that will move the ball around the strike zone. He'll attack hitters in different ways. He definitely changes speeds to his benefit."

Barnes will serve as the extra player added to the active roster for doubleheaders, but he also must be added to the 40-man roster. The Twins will announce Saturday how they have cleared a spot for him.

Etc.

— Mitch Garver went 1-for-7 with two walks to open his rehab assignment with St. Paul, while Jake Cave homered and walked twice in his Saints debut. But the important thing, Baldelli emphasized, is that both players feel healthy again after their first game action in more than six weeks.

— Players and staff underwent COVID-19 testing upon returning from the break, and the Twins have reported no positive tests. Unvaccinated players will be under "heightened scrutiny" and further testing, Baldelli said, especially in light of an outbreak on the Yankees, but "the guys have been vigilant. We need to keep it going."