NEW YORK — Rocco Baldelli planned to attend an outdoor Wilco concert in Queens on Saturday night. Can't blame him if he sang along with Jeff Tweedy on "Hate it Here."
Twins' Sunday finale vs. Yankees postponed to Sept. 13 by Hurricane Henri
They will have to make a one-day trip to New York to finish out the four-game series.
August 22, 2021 at 12:01AM
Nevertheless, he'll have to come back. With Hurricane Henri expected to make landfall in the northeast United States overnight, the Yankees preemptively postponed Sunday's finale of the four-game series until Sept. 13.
The Twins hope their charter flight can depart Sunday morning for Boston, where they open a three-game series in Fenway Park on Tuesday. "I've seen situations where teams jump on the bus or on a train, things like that," said Baldelli, who warned his players to take all their personal possessions with them after Saturday's game, in case the team didn't return to Yankee Stadium on Sunday. "We might just end up waiting an extra day. There's a lot of possibilities right now."
The makeup game is the second one-day road trip the Twins will take over the season's final five weeks. They must return to Detroit on Aug. 30, in the middle of a Target Field homestand, to make up a game lost to weather in July. And now they'll have to return to Yankee Stadium, where they have lost 19 of their past 21 games, and been swept this weekend by a total score of 24-8.
"The environment here is a different environment. It's very good for the home team," said Baldelli, whose teams went 5-22 at old and new Yankee Stadium during his playing career. "It's not like you walk out here and feel like you're in a very friendly [place]. You're not going to think that."
Maeda leaves early
Kenta Maeda was unhappy with the Yankees' two hits, both to spots where the defense had shifted away, when pitching coach Wes Johnson visited the mound in the fifth inning Saturday. But he showed no signs of physical trouble.
That changed right away. Maeda's next nine pitches were nowhere near the strike zone, and one skittered back to the screen, a run-scoring wild pitch. When his first pitch to Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded was also a misfire, Maeda signaled for trainer Michael Salazar and Baldelli, who immediately removed him from the game.
"Up until that point, there was really not a lot to point to as far as health questions," Baldelli said. "He did look uncomfortable right before we took him out. But command of pitches normally would be one of the first things that would go when someone is dealing with something physically."
Maeda will be examined by Twins' physicians, either remotely or by sending him back to the Twin Cities, Baldelli said. And while the manager didn't want to assume anything about his condition, he conceded that a stint on the injured list may be necessary.
"I don't see many scenarios where it's not going to take some time to get Kenta back where he needs to be," Baldelli said. "Just simply allowing things to calm down a bit and be looked at by doctors, that alone takes time."
Maeda has already spent a couple of weeks on the injured list this season. He was sidelined on May 23 with a strain of his adductor muscle in his right hip.
"He was out there battling for us today," catcher Ryan Jeffers said. "He was moving the ball really well, he was mixing his pitches. So hopefully everything is good, hopefully it's a good diagnosis, and he'll be back on the mound soon."
Buxton rests
After conferring with Byron Buxton Saturday, one day after he went hitless in three plate appearances for the Class AAA St. Paul Saints, the Twins decided to give their center fielder a rest-and-recovery day. Buxton, out since June because of a broken left hand, worked out as normal, but was not in the Saints' lineup against Iowa.
He will resume his rehab assignment on Sunday, Baldelli said.
No homer
The Twins trailed 6-0 when Rougned Odor hit a three-run home run on Saturday. Yet the final score was only 7-1.
The reason? While waiting for Twins reliever Ralph Garza to deliver a pitch with two runners on, Odor suddenly raised his hand, asking for time. Umpire Angel Hernandez granted it and signaled no pitch, but Odor swung anyway and hit it into the right-field seats.
"I've never seen that in my life. I've never seen it anywhere," Baldelli said. "Angel was pretty declarative of the fact, you know, in calling time."
Yet Odor complained about his mistake to Hernandez — which the manager understood, sort of.
"A lot of times on a baseball field, what we know is right and makes sense is not always in agreement with our emotions. And if you're the guy that just hit a ball over the fence in a major-league baseball game off a major-league pitcher, even if you know it probably shouldn't count, you still might be [angry]," Baldelli said. "So I don't blame him at all. We all knew what was going on."
The crowd didn't, though. The 35,247 fans roared their disapproval when the home run was waved off, and grew louder when Odor then took a third strike, helping Garza to escape the jam unscathed.
Talk of competing for the best players or of a potential new owner wielding big bucks doesn’t change this: They are last in popularity among the four major men’s pro sports.
