DETROIT – As the Red Sox finished their four-game series at Comerica Park and departed Detroit on Monday, the Twins moved in. But not without a few precautions first.
The Twins contacted the Tigers and asked the clubhouse staff to do some extra disinfecting in the visitor's locker room Monday night, and requested similar work be done at the team's suburban hotel. At least a half-dozen Red Sox players — call them the Red Tox — were stricken by the flu in the past week, and it raised some concerns among Minnesota's players.
"Yeah, we talked about it a little bit," righthander Phil Hughes said. "I texted Mike Herman yesterday to ask if they were going to do something about it, and he said they already were in contact" with the Tigers.
Herman, the Twins' director of team travel, was assured by Detroit's staff that unusual precautions had been taken to make sure no flu virus would linger in the clubhouse. But the Twins also are staying at the same hotel here — in fact, they stayed in Chicago on Sunday because there weren't enough rooms available until the Red Sox checked out Monday — so the team voiced the same concerns there.
"The hotel said they sent an alert to all their housekeepers: Deep-clean any Red Sox rooms," Herman said. "The good news was that a couple of the sickest guys didn't even make the trip."
Pitcher Robbie Ross Jr. was even placed on the disabled list because of the flu, and outfielder Andrew Benintendi began throwing up midway through during Saturday's game. Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland also missed time, and even Boston's TV play-by-play man, Dave O'Brien, had to leave the booth because of illness.
"Someone offered me Lysol Wipes this morning. I'm not a person who overly reacts to those things, but you kind of use common sense," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It's unfortunate the Red Sox went through that, but hopefully it's not an issue for us."
Both catchers start
The Twins only carry two catchers, and managerial superstition says one of them should always be on the bench, just in case. But Molitor penciled in Jason Castro behind the plate Tuesday, while backup catcher Chris Gimenez played first base.
