Minnesota Twins postgame report: Odorizzi heads to IL after loss to Athletics

The Minnesota Twins’ All-Star had a rough start in Oakland and was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a blister after the game.

The Minnesota Twins have been frequent visitors to the injured list recently and last night, the injury bug claimed another victim. Jake Odorizzi cruised through the first couple innings of his start against the Oakland Athletics, but his control began to waver and after being visited by trainers twice, he would leave the game in the third inning with a blister on his pitching hand.

The blister was  serious enough to send Odorizzi to the injured list, meaning he won’t be able to participate in his first All-Star Game.

As for the game, the Twins did their best to rally from the hole that Odorizzi put them in, but it was too deep as the A’s handed the Twins an 8-6 defeat in the first game of a three-game series on Tuesday night.

Twin Takeaways – The Bad

We’re going to go in reverse here to talk about the start that Odorizzi had prior to leaving the game. As mentioned, Odorizzi had a 1-2-3 inning in the first and would retire the first five batters before his control went awry. As his pitch count climbed into the 80s in the third inning, trainers would visit Odorizzi on the mound to see if he was OK after allowing a two-run homer to Matt Olson.

The Twins would leave him in the game with the bases loaded and he would cough up a grand slam to Chris Hermann, to break open the game at 6-2. Odorizzi would leave the game shortly after.

After Adalberto Mejia would give the Twins some solid relief allowing just one run in 3 1/3 innings, the Twins turned to Matt Magill, who would cough up Mark Canha‘s 12th home run of the year to give Oakland the insurance runs they would need to close out the victory.

Twin Takeaways – The Good

While the story of the game was Odorizzi’s performance and injury, the other story was the Twins at the plate. Miguel Sano would lead off the offense with his fourth home run in the past three games to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

After Odorizzi’s downfall, the Twins made an attempt to rally back including Jason Castro hitting a pair of solo home runs and a RBI double by Luis Arraez. In the end, it just wasn’t enough for the Twins, who have now dropped four of their last five games.

The good news here was also the return of Mejia, who had been on the disabled list since early May with a calf injury. If he can pitch like he did in his return, it should be another quality arm for a Twins bullpen that has been on a downward spiral since the beginning of the year.

Up Next

The Twins will try to get back in the win column when they send Kyle Gibson to the mound in Oakland on Wednesday night. Gibson last pitched in the Twins’ marathon game with the Tampa Bay Rays on June 26 and will be making his first start since June 24. Gibson owns an 8-4 record with a 4.21 ERA this season.

For the Athletics, they’ll send Mike Fiers to the mound, who has a line of 8-3 with a 4.01 ERA, but owns a 6-1 record and 2.77 ERA lifetime against the Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. CT.