Luke Hughes Will Be Twins Every Day Second Baseman, Joe Mauer Could Bat Second

The Minnesota Twins lost second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka to a broken fibula in yesterday's game against the Yankees, and they have called up Luke Hughes to replace him. According to Phil Mackey of ESPN1500, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire plans to play Hughes on an every day basis, as opposed to using one of his utility infielders as a fill in for that spot.

"My preference is if Luke is going to be up here, I'm going to play him. I think Matty Tolbert, we kept him for a reason, and that's to come off the bench and do all those little things, go all over the field. Luke is more of a starter, so we're going to run him out there."

As for the batting order, Gardenhire might experiment with putting Joe Mauer in the two-hole while Nishioka recovers from his injury.

"I'm not real sure (Alexi Casilla) is ready for the two hole. So we're going to kind of battle through it. I might just move everybody up, put Mauer up there, and just move everybody up in the middle of the order and go from there."

We'll update all the Twins roster moves as they pertain to this injury in this stream. For more on Twins baseball, head on over to Twinkie Town.

Minnesota Twins Lose Nishioka To Broken Leg, Series To Yankees

The Minnesota Twins first lost second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka to a broken leg due to a Nick Swisher slide in the seventh inning and then later lost Thursday’s game — and the series — to the New York Yankees by a margin of 4-3.

According to several reports, Nishioka will be placed on the disabled list and the Twins will likely promote Luke Hughes from AAA Rochester to fill Nishioka’s roster spot.

The game was the second poor outing from Twins starting pitcher Francisco Liriano. In 5.0 innings, Liriano allowed four hits, walked three batters and gave up four runs to make his ERA a disappointing 7.71 on the season after his earlier outing against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Twins were able to mount a decent inning of offense in the top of the fourth as Jim Thome doubled home Justin Morneau and then Jason Kubel had a double of his own to get Thome across home plate, but the Yankees were able to keep the rally to two runs by getting Danny Valencia and Alexi Cassilla out to end the inning.

Denard Span also batted Casilla home in the seventh inning after Casilla reached base by being hit by a pitch, stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error before Span’s grounder to get him home.

The Twins will have their home-opener on Friday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka Out at Least a Month with Broken Fibula

As previously reported, Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka was injured when Yankee Nick Swisher slid hard into second base to break up a double play in the bottom of the seventh inning. What was not known at the time was the extent of the injury.

While we were told it was his knee or ankle when it occurred, it is, in fact, a broken fibula, the lower leg bone, commonly known as the shin. This type of injury generally requires at least a month out of the lineup to recover. The Twins will promote AAA Rochester second baseman Luke Hughes to fill Nishioka’s spot in the lineup.

From all accounts, the Swisher play is a common occurrence in Major League Baseball, and was not intended as a dirty play by Swisher. It is difficult to fathom, from a mostly outsider’s perspective, how a player sliding into a base with no intention of making it to the base is a legal play.

However, baseball fans tell me they’re OK with it, and that Tsuyoshi should have gotten out of the way. I shall defer to their greater knowledge on the topic. For now, the Twins will need to fill a hole in the infield very early in the season.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka Injured On Nick Swisher Takeout Slide Versus Yankees

Twins second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka injured his left knee on a takeout slide from the Yankees’ Nick Swisher in the bottom of the seventh inning and needed to be helped off the diamond. Matt Tolbert replaced him in the game.

With one out and Swisher on first, Mark Teixeira bounced a pitch from Jose Mijares toward Nishioka at second base. Nishioka fielded the ball on the third-base side of second, tapped the bag, and threw to first, trying to complete the double-play. But Swisher slid under Nishioka, who didn’t, or couldn’t, protect himself in time. He landed on his stomach and lay on the diamond for a moment before the training staff attended to him. Swisher clapped Nishioka on the back as he trotted back to the dugout.

Teixeria was safe at first on the play.

Television replays showed Swisher shaking his head and muttering an expletive to himself in disgust in the dugout as the Twins’ trainers helped Nishioka off the field. Nishioka did not use his left leg at all, and thus needed their support to get back to the clubhouse.

A rookie from Japan, the 26-year-old Nishioka is hitting .208 this season.

Twins Attempt To Win First Series In The Bronx Since 2001

The Twins haven't won a series against the Yankees in New York in the Ron Gardenhire era, and because of last night's rainout, they'll have the opportunity to do so today when the two teams do battle at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.

The Twins haven't won two straight games over the Yankees since June 1 and 2 of 2008 at the Metrodome. They haven't won two straight against the Yankees in New York since April 24 and 25 of the year 2000.

Carl Pavano was scheduled to get last night's start, but after last night's postponement, Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire has moved Pavano's start to Friday's home opener against the Oakland Athletics, which means left-hander Francisco Liriano will get the start this afternoon. He'll be matched up with the Yankees' A.J. Burnett

As far as the game that was rained out last night, there still has not been a make-up date announced. Playing a double-header today wasn't an option because the Twins, as I mentioned, are playing their home opener tomorrow against Oakland, and keeping them in New York even longer was not feasible.

Twins vs Yankees: Wednesday Night Game Postponed

The Twins and Yankees waited it out as long as they could, and in the end, Mother Nature just had too much say about tonight's game.

The rain is still coming down in the Bronx (and, presumably, in other places around New York), and the umpires have postponed tonight's game between the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees. As of right now, nearly 7 PM Central time, no date has been announced for a make-up game. It doesn't sound like they'll be playing a double-header tomorrow, although it is still a possibility, so it appears as though the Twins will have to make a separate trip to New York, as this is the only scheduled trip that the Twins are set to make to New York this season.

Once we get an announcement of the date of the make-up game, we will have that information for you here at SB Nation Minnesota.

Thursday's game between the Yankees and Twins is scheduled for an early 12:05 PM Central start. One would assume that the pitching match-up will remain Pavano vs Garcia, but we shall see how the teams want to handle that as well.

Twins vs Yankees: Pavano Takes The Mound

Our friends over at Twinkie Town have a look at tonight's match-up.

The Twins got themselves a rare win over the Yankees last night, marking just the 19th time in 77 games under Ron Gardenhire that they has managed to knock off the Bronx Bombers. Tonight, Carl Pavano hopes to make everyone forget his disastrous Opening Day start in Toronto when he takes the mound opposite Yankees' right-hander Freddy Garcia, who it only seems has been around forever, but is just. . .dang, he's my age. He really has been around forever. The Twins should be pretty familiar with Garcia from his days with the White Sox, and. . .well, Freddy Garcia just isn't very good, so hopefully the Twins can get something even more unprecedented than a win over the Yankees. . .TWO wins over the Yankees.

No Joe Mauer in the lineup tonight for the Twins, as Drew Butera will handle the catching duties. Mauer is, however, available in a pinch-hitting capacity if necessary.

Enjoy the game, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll be back with a recap when it's all said and done.

Twins Storm Back Late To Knock Off Yankees, 5-4, In Ten

To say that the Minnesota Twins haven't had a great deal of success against the New York Yankees in the Ron Gardenhire era would be a severe understatement. Going into tonight's game in the Bronx, the Twins had compiled a record of 18-58 in 76 games against New York since Gardy took over, and in nine years they've never won a series in New York.

Tonight looked like it was going to be more of the same, but the Twins persevered, and got a rare victory over the Yankees in New York by a score of 5-4 in ten innings.

The Bronx Bombers jumped on Twins' starter Brian Duensing early, with Mark Teixeira launching a three-run home run in the first inning to stake C.C. Sabathia to a 3-run lead. (Insert joke about Sabathia and steak here.) When Andruw Jones added to the Yankee lead with a solo home run with one out in the second, it looked like the Yankees were on their way to a rout. After the first two innings, Duensing had allowed four runs on four hits, and had walked a hitter.

However, that was all the Yankees would get, as they generated just two more hits the rest of the way, and didn't get any hits after the sixth inning.

The Twins did most of their damage in the top of the eighth, as Danny Valencia drew a walk from Rafael Soriano to start off the inning. After pinch-hitter Justin Morneau lined out to right field, Jim Thome drew a walk in a pinch-hitting role, and Denard Span singled to left to load the bases. After Tsuyoshi Nishioka struck out looking, Joe Mauer drew yet another walk to bring Valencia home and cut the deficit to 4-1. Delmon Young followed that up with a bloop double off of David Robertson, clearing the bases and tying the score at four.

From there, we went to the tenth inning. Boone Logan walked Span to start things off, and Nishioka's single sent Span to third. Mauer then laced a single to right field to score Span, and the Twins took a 5-4 lead. Joe Nathan came on and pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth for his second save and a Twins' victory.

Matt Capps got the win for Minnesota, pitching a perfect eighth and ninth inning for the victory. Logan took the loss for the Yankees.

The series continues tomorrow from Yankee Stadium at 6:05 PM Central time, as Carl Pavano will make his second start of the year, locking up with the Yankees' Freddy Garcia.

Tonight's Twins Lineup

Here’s the lineup for tonight’s game in New York, provided by a picture from the Minnesota Twins’ twitter account:

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Delmon Young, LF
5. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Jason Repko, RF
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Brian Duensing gets the start on the mound. Now before you go all “AAAAAH WTF WHERE’S MORNEAU IS HE CONCUSSED AGAIN?!?!?!”, he’s just getting a routine night off. The Twins play ten games in the first ten days of the season and they’re taking a very cautious approach towards Morneau’s health, as they should.

Twins Fall Behind Early And Come Up Short, 4-3

After early inning struggles, Scott Baker settled down and the Twins bats finally came alive, but it wasn't enough as the Good Guys dropped a close one to the Yankees, 4-3.

Early on, Baker looked like he would continue the early season trend of Twins pitchers imitating a batting tee, as Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each hit two run homers in the first two inning, putting Minnesota in an early 4-0 hole.

Those would be home runs seven and eight given up by Twins pitchers so far this year, if you're keeping score at home.

But the Twins rallied in the top of the fourth.  After the first two batters were retired, Justin Morneau doubled, and Delmon Young hit an infield single, moving Morneau over to third.  DH Jim Thome then crushed a low fastball to deep right center for a two run double, scoring Young and Morneau and cutting the deficit in half.

Baker worked himself out of trouble in the bottom of the fourth, and the Twins got to within a run in the top of the 5th on doubles by Alexi Casilla and Japanese wunderkind Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

But that was as close as the Twins got, as the Yankee bullpen combo of Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, and Mariano Rivera shut the Twins bats down over the final three innings.

The Twins fall to 1-3 on the year, with three more games against the Yankees before the make their home debut against the A's next Friday.

Tomorrow, Brian Duensing tries to reverse the early season skid, while CC Sabathis takes the hill for the Yankees.

First pitch is 6:05 CST.

Sigh, Twins Down Early

The Twins are struggling in New York, as early home runs by Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez have put the Twins in a 4-0 hole.

But fear not, because the absolute inability to pitch is made up for with a glaring inability to hit.

SO we got that going for us, which is nice.

Twins Stagger Into The Bronx...Yippee

The Minnesota Twins come into their 4 game series with the Yankees having largely been whipped by the Toronto Blue Jays in their opening series of the year. 

Yippee. 

Starting pitching was bad, Joe Nathan was shaky in his first save opportunity, and the hitting was sporadic...if you consider 'bad' equal to 'sporadic'.

And now they get to face the Yankees, a team the Twins just can't beat. 

Trying to reverse their recent futility,  tonight the Twins will start Scott Baker, and will be opposed by Ivan Nova.  I'd say the Twins have a fighting chance, but I'm sure Nova will throw a two hit shutout against the Good Guys.

On a positive note, the Twins have Justin Morneau back full time, and really, it's only three games into the season, so let's hold off on the 'Twins are doomed' meme until at least May 1st.

For all your continuing Twins coverage, be sure to check out Twinkietown, the premier site for Minnesota Twins coverage on the Internet!