Shairon Martis Acquired By Twins In Trade With Pirates

On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Twins continued to add pitching to their roster when the team conducted a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates to bring in minor-league pitcher Shairon Martis for future considerations. The explanation for the move was that the Twins lacked pitching and needed to replenish their farm system.

Martis stands at six-foot-one, 225 pounds and throws right-handed. In 15 appearances this season (eight of which were starts), Martis has record of 6-2 and a 4.69 ERA split between the Pirates Triple-A and Double-A affiliates.

The 25-year old right-hander has appeared in 20 major league games in his career (19 starts), all of which came with the Washington Nationals. Over that span, Martis accumulated a 6-6 record and a 5.33 ERA.

He is expected to join the Twins Double-A affiliate, the New Britain Rock Cats.

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Kyle Waldrop Recalled By Twins

On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Twins announced that the club had recalled right-handed pitcher Kyle Waldrop from the team's Triple-A affiliate the Rochester Red Wings. The move will be made in anticipation of the team's game against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

In order to make room for Waldrop on the 25-man roster, the Twins were forced to option the contract of right-handed pitcher Jeff Manship to Rochester. Manship appeared in seven games with the Twins this season and has an ERA of 9.31 in 9.2 innings pitched.

Waldrop has pitched in nine games this season for the Red Wings and has a 1.26 ERA, allowing only two earned runs over 14.1 innings pitched with a strikeout-to-walk-ratio of 5-5. He began the year with the Twins on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain.

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Twins Vs. White Sox: Minnesota Drops Rubber Match, 12-5

After splitting the first two games of a three game set, the Minnesota Twins dropped the third and final game against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon, 12-5.

The first two games of the set saw close games that were decided by narrow margins. On Wednesday, however, the White Sox jumped out to a commanding lead and never looked back.

Scoring six runs prior to the Twins scoring their first in the bottom of the fifth inning, Chicago immediately added three runs to their total in the top of the sixth. Over the course of the fifth through eighth inning, the White Sox scored a total of 10 runs in comparison to the Twins' four.

Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn (4-4) was tagged with the loss, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five innings pitched. On the other end of the spectrum, Chris Sale (8-2) earned the win allowing only two earned runs on six hits over seven innings pitched.

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Twins Vs. White Sox: Minnesota Goes For Win In Rubber Game

The Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox have so far split their series straight down the middle in two straight strong pitchers duels. Both teams are probably hoping to see some more fireworks, especially from Kevin Youkilis in the case of the Sox, in game three.

That's going to be a tough ask from the Twins, who will be facing one of the best pitchers in the AL as Chris Sale takes the mound for the Sox. Sale leads the league in ERA with a sparkling 2.24 clip and has gone 8-2 on the year with 89 strikeouts. For a Twins offense that hasn't put together more than four runs in the series yet, not a great sign.

They'll need Nick Blackburn, he of a 4-4 record and far less impressive 7.45 ERA, to step up and take down Sale. Francisco Liriano was able to hold their offense at bay despite an unimpressive season thus far, they'll hope for the same sort of result on Friday.

The game will be at Target Field at 1:10 p.m. ET.

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Minnesota Could Use Cole De Vries In Rotation Again Soon After Recent Success In Triple-A

The Minnesota Twins have had a bit of a mess in their starting rotation this season, but everyone already knew that. They've been going through pitcher after pitcher in their system back and fourth, over and over trying to find the winners and guys who can give them the best chance to win baseball games.

It looks like another one of their guys from the minors might be getting another shot very soon after a great performance in the minors. According to the Star Tribune, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has said that Cole De Vries may be brought back up for another stint in the big league:

"We'll let you know," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He threw well [Monday]. He's lined up really well. We'll see. We like to tell the player before we tell you [reporters]."

In his last three appearances at Triple-A Rochester have yielded some impressive numbers, a 2-0 record with a 2.53 ERA.

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Twins Vs. White Sox Final Score: Minnesota Halted By Gavin Floyd, Chicago In Game Two, 3-2

After taking game one on Monday for their 2nd consecutive win, the Minnesota Twins couldn't find their offense until it was too late in a 3-2 defeat against the White Sox on Tuesday that evened the series.

Minnesota pitcher Liam Hendriks was strong on the mound for the Twins despite the outcome, as he went 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and three earned runs. While Hendriks wound up taking the loss to fall to 0-5 on the season, he did manage to lower his 2012 ERA from 7.39 to 6.82 with the respectable outing.

On a day when Twins hitters actually out-produced their opponents in hits (7 to 5), it took until the bottom of the 9th inning for Minnesota to finally break through in the scoring column. Trailing 3-0, a Jamey Carroll bases-loaded single plated a pair of runners to give White Sox closer Addison Reed a huge scare, although the Twins were unable to take advantage in the end.

The story of the evening would prove to be Chicago starter Gavin Floyd, who reeled off seven scoreless innings, whiffing nine Minnesota hitters in the process. The performance moved Floyd to 6-7 on the year and marked his 2nd consecutive scoreless outing.

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Twins Vs. White Sox: Liam Hendriks Goes For Elusive First Win

The Minnesota Twins host the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday in Game 2 of a three-game series in Minneapolis.

The Twins, winners of two straight, will send Liam Hendriks to the hill in hopes that the 23-year-old Australian can notch his first big-league win.

Hendriks was demoted to Rochester with an 0-2 record and 9.00 ERA through four starts. He dominated in Triple-A -- he was 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA -- but is 0-2 in his two starts back in the majors. Last time out, Hendriks gave up three earned runs in 5.0 innings, leaving him with an 0-4 record and 7.39 ERA.

Dating back to 2011, Hendriks is 0-6 for the Twins.

Gavin Floyd, 5-7 with a 5.20 ERA, will start for the White Sox, who have won six of their last eight games at Target Field.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 Central.

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Twins Closer: Minnesota Will 'Mix And Match' With Matt Capps Out

With Minnesota Twins closer Matt Capps on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation, the club will rely on the tandem of lefty Glen Perkins and righty Jared Burton, according to an article from The Star Tribune.

Capps had a 3.42 ERA and 14 saves before being sidelined. He had one blown save and a 1-4 record.

From the Star Tribune:

"We're going to mix and match and see how it goes," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Monday before the 4-1 victory over the White Sox.

When the bullpen was healthy, Burton, with his split-fingered changeup, worked the seventh inning, and Perkins, with his 95-miles-per-hour fastball, worked the eighth. Neither considers the revised role a big deal. Many set-up men enter games with runners on base, so they feel they are battle-tested.

"It's been based on matchups anyway," said Burton, who pitched a scoreless ninth Monday for his second career save, "so I guess we'll move back to eighth and ninth and just take it in stride. You just have to look at it as just another inning and know that the pressure is on [the opponent]. They are the ones that are losing."

The article goes on to say that the Twins are wary of using Burton in back-to-back games because of his history with injuries. As such, Perkins might see more save opportunities.

Capps received a cortisone injection and is expected to rejoin the team sometime after the All-Star break.

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Twins Vs. White Sox Final Score: Minnesota Wins Game 1, Liriano Solid

The story heading in was Kevin Youkilis making his Chicago White Sox debut, but the Minnesota Twins flipped the script on Monday night and earned a 4-1 win at Target Field.

Almost 14 months after his no hitter against Chicago, Francisco Liriano (2-7) got his second straight win, giving up just one run in seven innings on four hits. He struck out five.

The Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings off a Joe Mauer sacrifice fly and RBI singles from Brian Dozier and Jamey Carroll,

Youkilis went 1-for-4 in his White Sox debut, with a single in the eighth. Chicago's lone run came in the seventh inning off an Alexei Ramirez sac fly. Trevor Plouffe's sac fly in the seventh made it 4-1 and that's how it would stay.

Jake Peavy (6-4) took the loss, giving up 10 hits and three earned runs in six innings. He struck out seven.

Jared Burton recorded his second save of the season.

Game 2 of the series is Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. CT.

For more info on the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox, head to their SB Nation blogs at Twinkie Town and South Side Sox. More news and analysis on everything MLB can be found over at Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. White Sox: Minnesota Faces Chicago Team, Newly Upgraded With Kevin Youkilis

Minnesota will host the AL Central leading White Sox on Monday, and will likely be the first team to see Kevin Youkilis in a White Sox uniform.