Twins' planned bullpen game is complicated by an unplanned one

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli's plan calls for a bullpen game cobbled together from his pitchers as best he can in Thursday's series opener against the Yankees in New York.

He received a preview in Wednesday's 8-7 home victory over Cleveland, when recalled starter Lewis Thorpe left in the second inning because of a left shoulder strain.

The Twins used seven more pitchers to get from there to another Jorge Polanco walkoff hit in the 11th inning. In between, the Twins walked a season-high 10 batters, the most since June 2019 against Boston. The eight pitchers are the most since September 2019 at Kansas City. Alexander Colome allowed two tying ninth-inning runs and lost a save.

"We just have to keep going," Baldelli said. "We went to the bullpen and they started pitching."

They'll move on with righthander John Gant set to pitch Thursday, followed by Charlie Barnes on Friday, Kenta Maeda on Saturday and Griffin Jax on Sunday.

"He's stretched out enough to give us a few innings," Baldelli said of Gant. "He can give us more than your typical guy coming out of the bullpen."

Recalled from Class AAA St. Paul on Wednesday, Thorpe will go on the injured list and Baldelli said his team will add "at least one more arm, if not more."

Rehabilitating Byron Buxton will advance to a live batting-practice session Thursday in St. Paul. Baldelli said they'll decide if Buxton is ready for game action in St. Paul if his healing fractured left hand comes through fine.

"He has done everything he possibly can," Baldelli said. "The bone has probably healed slightly slower than maybe we were thinking originally. There's no way to know these things. We just have to wait and see how the body responds and watch it."

Buxton was hit by a pitch on that hand June 21 against Cincinnati. That was his third game back after he missed 39 because of a hip injury.

"He has taken care of all his responsibilities," Baldelli said. "He looks great. He's moving around great. We just need to make sure of the strength in that hand and that there's no soreness."

Two Twins staff members other than first-base coach Tommy Watkins and hitting coach Edgar Varela have tested positive for COVID-19, Baldelli said Wednesday. He did not name them because they haven't given permission.

"We're hoping in every way and also doing our best as a staff to make sure we keep it localized," he said. "There's no way to know. There's no way to feel confident about anything related to COVID, It's not a situation any team, any person wants to be in, but we're doing our best right now and we're working through it."

The Twins open their 33-game spring-training schedule with a Feb. 25 game against the Gophers. Their Grapefruit League opener is the next day against Toronto at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Fla.

They'll play Boston four times, and Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Atlanta twice each. They'll also play the New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Detroit and Pittsburgh once each. They conclude spring training March 29 with a game at the Red Sox' JetBlue Park.