One nice thing about the Twins' offense scoring 10 runs on Opening Day is, well, that kind of offensive output will win games more often than not. Another important side effect is that the White Sox had to dig relatively deep into their bullpen Friday night, using seven relievers as compared to the Twins' four.

Could that have a trickle-down effect on the remainder of this series? This early in the season, different clubs might be more hesitant to use relievers on back-to-back days due to the abbreviated ramp-up period in Summer Camp.

"I think every team is going to approach this differently, and there could be some drastic differences around the league as to how this is going to be handled," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I think that we will see some guys going back-to-back games early for us. Will it be every guy? Maybe not initially."

The White Sox dug into some of their late-inning bullpen pieces as part of their reliever parade on Friday night, including both Aaron Bummer and Kelvin Herrera. That was necessitated by Lucas Giolito's short start (seven runs in 3 2/3 innings) and the Twins' three-run rally in the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, Minnesota got five innings of two-hit ball from only four relievers: Trevor May, Tyler Clippard, Tyler Duffey and Cody Stashak. That could be important for the remainder of the series if Baldelli is hesitant to use any of those players -- all expected to be important bullpen pieces -- on consecutive days at this time. Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, Zack Littell and Matt Wisler remained completely fresh in the bullpen for Saturday.

"I think that we will see some guys going back-to-back games early for us," Baldelli said. "Will it be every guy? Maybe not initially, especially guys that are maybe going up and down, and things like that. Then again, it's going to come down to the individual, because some guys are certainly capable of a lot more than others at this point."

Twins relievers indicated toward the end of camp that they were anticipating a slightly heavier workload at the beginning of the season because starting pitchers weren't as likely to be stretched out. With that said, no member of the Twins' bullpen threw against live hitters on back-to-back days during Summer Camp, so the relief corps could still be in uncharted territory if they're up multiple days in a row.

Those are some of the considerations that Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson will have to continue to feel out as they aim for each important win while making sure their pitchers stay healthy.

"Bullpen usage -- really, the way we use all of our pitchers -- is something that we normally discuss often," Baldelli said. "I think we're going to have to discuss it even more often this year. We need to make sure that health is our No. 1 priority. We need to evaluate every one of our pitchers individually to see where they're at."

Hill feeling good after bullpen session
Left-hander Rich Hill felt "great" after he threw a bullpen session on Saturday morning, a team spokesman said. The 40-year-old is set to be examined on Saturday and Sunday in the aftermath of some slight soreness, and Baldelli indicated on Friday night that the Twins thought it best to keep Hill tentatively scheduled for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, where he was originally scheduled to pitch.

Hill had been announced as the starting pitcher in Saturday afternoon's game against the White Sox in the place of the injured Jake Odorizzi (right intercostal strain). Randy Dobnak was summoned for a spot start when Hill was scratched.

Twins targeting Tuesday return for Buxton
The Twins indicated on Friday that Byron Buxton could return to Minneapolis as early as Saturday following his road trip to join his teammates in Chicago for Opening Day. Though no firm decision has been made about that timetable, Baldelli indicated that the Twins hope their center fielder can see some more at-bats against live pitching at the alternate training site in St. Paul, Minn.

Baldelli is hoping to set next Tuesday's home opener against the Cardinals as a target date for Buxton's return.

"I think that could be a pretty good goal that everyone is kind of looking toward," Baldelli said. "If it's not the home opener, it's probably not going to be much more than a day or two after that for Buck."

President of baseball operations Derek Falvey said that Buxton made the decision to drive from Minneapolis to Chicago to join his teammates for Opening Day. Falvey and Baldelli indicated that it was important to Buxton to show solidarity for racial justice alongside his teammates during Friday's pregame ceremony.

"I think it's definitely the case," Baldelli said. "It was a very, very important day for a lot of people. I know it was exceptionally important for Byron to be there on Opening Day with us, to be with his teammates, to take part in the pregame ceremonies."