Twins righthander Tyler Duffey, called up for an emergency start on Suday, had to leave his start in the fifth inning Sunday after being struck in the right shoulder area with a line drive off the bat of Matt den Dekker.
On a 3-2 pitch, den Dekker hit a liner back up the middle that Duffey had no time to catch or avoid. The ball deflected off of Duffey and toward third base as Den Dekker reached first safely. Duffey never went down and pounded his fist into his glove as manager Paul Molitor and trainer Dave Pruemer went to the mound.
Duffey was removed from the game. He was later diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion.
The Twins are trying to avoid being swept in a series for the fourth time this year (already!) and their task won't be easy as the Nationals send Optimus Prime to the mound today. Prime is 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA through three starts, and he's coming off of an outing during which he shut out the Braves for eight innings while reaching double-digit strikeouts for the first time this season.
Righthanded hitters have had better success than lefties against Prime. This year is no different (.276 vs. .119)
Byung Ho Park has been freed. Park is in the lineup today, playing first and batting cleanup. The Twins' designated hitter has been stuck on the bench in interleague play because of the no-DH rule in the NL and Joe Mauer being Joe Mauer again.
Tyler Duffey is up to make an emergency start in place of the sore-backed Ervin Santana. And it just happens to be in a National League park. Duffey has made 96 appearances since being drafted in 2012 but has not had an official plate appearance. I'm not even sure if he's taken batting practice. Ever.
UPDATE: Duffey said he practiced bunting during spring training and thinks he might have taken batting practice while at Class AA. Twins manager Paul Molitor hopes Duffey bats with runners on base so all he has to do is get a bunt down.
