Minnesota Twins veteran right-hander Carl Pavano struggled again on the mound Friday night, giving up six earned runs in less than four innings to the Cleveland Indians to take the loss. Pavano is now 2-5 on the season with a 6.00 ERA, but an ailing right shoulder has made things worse of late.
Pavano is 0-3 in his last five starts, failing to get past the fifth inning in the last two while giving up six earned runs in both outings. According to this report by John Shipley, Pavano may need to shut it down for awhile to address the weakness and soreness in his shoulder while trying to bring his arm back to life.
Pavano said he's not inclined to get a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder -- "There was a time," he said, "but if you're dealing with a weakness, it's not necessarily the answer." -- so rest seems to be the obvious course. The only Twins starter to pitch at least 200 innings the past two seasons, Pavano has thrown as many as 80 only once in his past six starts.
Pitching health has already altered the Twins' season so far as they have used nine different starters filling in for various injuries to Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn.
For more on the Twins, check out Twinkie Town. For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.