The Cleveland left-hander got a rude welcome home from the Twins on Sunday, his first appearance at Target Field since he pitched Mounds View to a state championship here in 2014.
Hentges, a 6-foot-4 left-hander, was tagged for two home runs and six earned runs in 3.1 innings in his second appearance this season against his former favorite major league team with several friends and family members looking right at him from directly behind home plate.
He didn’t notice.
“It wasn’t a distraction,” he said. “They had told me last night that they were going to be back there. I said, ‘It’s going to be all right. It won’t be a distraction for me.’ But I think it was just cool for them to be in that spot.”
A fourth-round pick from Shoreview, Hentges, 24, walked four and gave up six hits, including a solo home run to Josh Donaldson and two-run home run to Andrelton Simmons.
“He’s a big kid; he creates that natural angle that probably a lot of scouts look for,” Dondaldson said. “We knew that he had a good fastball. He likes to throw the fastball. And early on, it looked like he was having a little bit of difficulty, probably, throwing some breaking balls. And then when he was able to, we either laid off of it or were able to put a swing on it, either foul or whatnot and waited him out to make a mistake with that fastball.”
That’s about right, said Hentges, who left with runners at first and second with one out in the fourth inning. After striking out Donaldson, looking at a high, outside fastball, reliever Justin Garcia surrendered a three-run home run to Nelson Cruz to finish off Hentges’ stat line. He was charged six earned runs and fell to 1-3.
In his previous start, Hentges pitched five shutout innings in a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh.
“(The Twins) have got some good, veteran hitters on the team, and I just never really got into a rhythm on the mound,” he said. “The breaking balls weren’t inducing swings the way that they usually do, and then the fastball command wasn’t great. So, just all in all, not a great day at the ballpark.”
Buxton All-Star Game finalist
The Twins’ lone finalist in fan voting for the All-Star Game announced Sunday in all likelihood won’t be able to play in the July 13 game at Coors Field in Denver.
Center fielder Byron Buxton, no doubt the Twins’ best player this season when he has played, is on the 10-day injured list with a fractured knuckle on his left hand, the result of being hit by a pitch last Monday against Cincinnati.
Buxton was hitting .369 with a .409 on-base percentage, 10 home runs and 19 RBIs when he hit the IL for the second time. Only three days before, he had come back from a Grade 2 strain in his right hip that cost him six weeks.
The second round of fan voting begins Monday at 11 a.m. CDT.
It’s not inconceivable that Buxton, 27, will be healthy enough to play in what would be his first all-star game since breaking into the majors in 2015, but it’s unlikely. The only update on his status Sunday was that the Twins decided against placing his hand in a hard cast “to avoid any unnecessary movement or (stop) him from getting overanxious and doing anything with the splint on.”
Under Major League Baseball rules, each of its 30 teams must have one player represent it at the all-star game, and because the Twins started the day 11 games under .500 and last in the American League Central, that’s probably all they’ll get. American League manager Kevin Cash of Tampa Bay will choose replacement players.
Manager Rocco Baldelli suggested starter Jose Berrios, 7-2 with a 3.40 earned-run average in 15 starts, would be a good choice but Taylor Rogers — lefty reliever with a live fastball — might be the most attractive to a manager trying to win a game. Rogers is 2-3 with seven saves and a 2.59 ERA. He has struck out 42 batters and walked only two in 31 appearances.
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Return to Target Field 'not a great day at the ballpark' for Sam Hentges - Pine Journal
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