MINNEAPOLIS -- Just as Twins Territory began celebrating the arrival of one of their young stars in Emmanuel Rodriguez, they gasped as another was injured.
Following Rodriguez’s first MLB homer in the third inning of Saturday's game against the Guardians at Target Field, the Twins rallied for two additional runs. The next batter, Kaelen Culpepper, was hit on his back by a pitch from Guardians reliever Franco Aleman.
Culpepper fell to the ground and looked as though the wind had been knocked out of him by the 95.3 mph fastball. It took a moment for Culpepper to get up, but he left the field on his own power.
After his exit, the Twins tacked on one more run in the inning.
The Twins announced that Culpepper has a right shoulder contusion. The X-rays came back negative for a fracture, and he is considered day to day.
Ryan Kreidler entered to run the bases for Culpepper and took over at shortstop.