Stewart banged up
LOS ANGELES -- The Twins were looking for a way to get Lew Ford's bat into the lineup, but not like this.
Ford started in left field and batted leadoff Saturday against the Dodgers in place of Shannon Stewart, who was injured Friday in a violent collision with the fence.
"I knew before we got here that he was sore and would need a day," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Stewart made a nice running catch on Jason Grabowski's fourth-inning fly ball to the corner, but slammed face-first into the wall and foul pole. He came out of the game and was replaced by Ford.
Predictably, after the hard hit to his body, Stewart was moving slowly when he arrived to Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With a bruised left wrist, among other ailments, he was not expected to be available for pinch-hitting duty either.
"Everything is pretty sore," said Stewart, one of the club's hottest hitters, batting .294 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. "It was the wrist at first. But now it's the [quadriceps] that hurts, and my back."
Since there is no designated hitter in effect at National League ballparks, Ford had been limited to mainly pinch-hitting duties until Saturday's start.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to American League ballparks and to get in the game," Ford said. "But the main thing is we're winning and hitting the ball. That's what counts. To make the playoffs, we need all our guys. [Stewart] is a very important part of the team. He's swinging great and he's our leadoff hitter."
The Twins have a scheduled off-day Monday, making it feasible that Stewart could get Sunday off to get more healing time. But he hoped not to miss any more games.
"I'm not going to let it go too far," Stewart said. "I've been playing sore and uncomfortable all year."
Hunter OK: Twins center fielder Torii Hunter slammed his left shoulder hard into the wall making an eighth-inning catch in Minnesota's 5-3 win Saturday.
Hunter chased down Jason Phillips' drive to the warning track and took a step before a hard collision with the fence. He was already playing with a separated AC joint in the same shoulder, an injury he suffered in the 2004 playoffs.
"I didn't think I was that close to the fence," said Hunter, who homered in the sixth inning. "When I hit it, man that hurt. It felt like all my insides shook up."
After the game, Hunter was expected to be OK.
Also in lineup: After Joe Mauer caught four games in a row, he was given a rest Saturday night. Backup catcher Mike Redmond was behind the plate. Mauer is expected to be back in the lineup Sunday.
Switch-hitting rookie Glenn Williams got his first big-league start, playing in place of Michael Cuddyer at third base Saturday. Gardenhire liked having an extra lefty in the lineup against Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, who is tough on right-handers.
Close games: Entering Saturday, the Twins were losers of back-to-back one-run games to lower their record in those close contests to 12-11 this season. By comparison, the AL Central-leading White Sox are 19-7 in one-run games.
Gardenhire isn't concerned about losing some close games.
"It's better than being 5-16," he said. "We were 12-9 going into this series. If it's one-run games, you have a chance to win those games. We've always done pretty good in one-run games."
Hollywood stars: Batting practice was scrubbed Saturday afternoon because of the annual "Hollywood Stars" celebrity softball game that was being played at Dodger Stadium.
Still, a majority of Twins players lingered on the field to check out a cavalcade of B-list stars in action. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, ex-"Saturday Night Live" cast members Jon Lovitz and Rob Schneider, former "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek, film actor Sean Astin, model/actress Molly Sims and "Survivor" host Jeff Probst were among those playing.
Coming up: The Twins and Dodgers wrap their three-game series Sunday at 3:10 p.m. CT. Brad Radke will pitch for Minnesota against Los Angeles' D.J. Houlton.
Source: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/
Ford started in left field and batted leadoff Saturday against the Dodgers in place of Shannon Stewart, who was injured Friday in a violent collision with the fence.
"I knew before we got here that he was sore and would need a day," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Stewart made a nice running catch on Jason Grabowski's fourth-inning fly ball to the corner, but slammed face-first into the wall and foul pole. He came out of the game and was replaced by Ford.
Predictably, after the hard hit to his body, Stewart was moving slowly when he arrived to Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With a bruised left wrist, among other ailments, he was not expected to be available for pinch-hitting duty either.
"Everything is pretty sore," said Stewart, one of the club's hottest hitters, batting .294 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. "It was the wrist at first. But now it's the [quadriceps] that hurts, and my back."
Since there is no designated hitter in effect at National League ballparks, Ford had been limited to mainly pinch-hitting duties until Saturday's start.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to American League ballparks and to get in the game," Ford said. "But the main thing is we're winning and hitting the ball. That's what counts. To make the playoffs, we need all our guys. [Stewart] is a very important part of the team. He's swinging great and he's our leadoff hitter."
The Twins have a scheduled off-day Monday, making it feasible that Stewart could get Sunday off to get more healing time. But he hoped not to miss any more games.
"I'm not going to let it go too far," Stewart said. "I've been playing sore and uncomfortable all year."
Hunter OK: Twins center fielder Torii Hunter slammed his left shoulder hard into the wall making an eighth-inning catch in Minnesota's 5-3 win Saturday.
Hunter chased down Jason Phillips' drive to the warning track and took a step before a hard collision with the fence. He was already playing with a separated AC joint in the same shoulder, an injury he suffered in the 2004 playoffs.
"I didn't think I was that close to the fence," said Hunter, who homered in the sixth inning. "When I hit it, man that hurt. It felt like all my insides shook up."
After the game, Hunter was expected to be OK.
Also in lineup: After Joe Mauer caught four games in a row, he was given a rest Saturday night. Backup catcher Mike Redmond was behind the plate. Mauer is expected to be back in the lineup Sunday.
Switch-hitting rookie Glenn Williams got his first big-league start, playing in place of Michael Cuddyer at third base Saturday. Gardenhire liked having an extra lefty in the lineup against Dodgers starter Derek Lowe, who is tough on right-handers.
Close games: Entering Saturday, the Twins were losers of back-to-back one-run games to lower their record in those close contests to 12-11 this season. By comparison, the AL Central-leading White Sox are 19-7 in one-run games.
Gardenhire isn't concerned about losing some close games.
"It's better than being 5-16," he said. "We were 12-9 going into this series. If it's one-run games, you have a chance to win those games. We've always done pretty good in one-run games."
Hollywood stars: Batting practice was scrubbed Saturday afternoon because of the annual "Hollywood Stars" celebrity softball game that was being played at Dodger Stadium.
Still, a majority of Twins players lingered on the field to check out a cavalcade of B-list stars in action. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, ex-"Saturday Night Live" cast members Jon Lovitz and Rob Schneider, former "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek, film actor Sean Astin, model/actress Molly Sims and "Survivor" host Jeff Probst were among those playing.
Coming up: The Twins and Dodgers wrap their three-game series Sunday at 3:10 p.m. CT. Brad Radke will pitch for Minnesota against Los Angeles' D.J. Houlton.
Source: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/
