DETROIT -- The Twins will have to wait at least one more day to kick off the second half, as Friday’s doubleheader against the Tigers at Comerica Park was postponed due to inclement weather.
Forecasts showed a sizeable front lingering over Detroit, with rain expected throughout the day and early into Saturday morning. When manager Rocco Baldelli and Tigers skipper A.J. Hinch met just two hours prior to the scheduled first pitch of Game 1, the pair decided their clubs would have a better shot of getting both games in on Saturday.
“It’s something we can definitely handle,” Baldelli said. “It’s not the way you draw it up. You really hope that you don’t have to go through these types of situations, but when they’re in front of you and you really have no choice, you have to go through them. You really can’t go around them in any way.”
Charlie Barnes, who was slated to make his MLB debut in Game 1 on Friday, will instead do so during Saturday’s Game 2. Kenta Maeda, who was on tap for Friday’s nightcap, assumes the same role Saturday, and J.A. Happ will take the ball on Sunday.
Minnesota was scheduled to play four games against Detroit this weekend, but losing a full day to rain puts a crunch on the rest of the series. The Twins will now play a split doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitches set for 12:10 p.m. CT and 5:10 p.m. CT, respectively. Minnesota will return to Detroit on Aug. 30 for a 1:10 p.m. CT game to make up Friday’s postponed Game 2.
Baldelli said this plan of attack appeared the best option, as this is Minnesota’s last trip to Motown this season.
Friday marked the eighth and ninth game postponements of the Twins’ season, a number that includes another lost game in Detroit on May 9 due to inclement weather. Minnesota will now play two twin bills in three days, as the Twins also have a scheduled doubleheader for Monday’s series opener in Chicago against the White Sox.
“We have to find a way to just go out there and play a lot of good baseball in a very short period of time, but it’s definitely something that we can handle,” Baldelli said. “I’m not really concerned about our group being able to get through it. The seven-inning-game part of this is helpful to us. There are significantly fewer innings that we will need to cover to get through these games, and I think that will be a good thing for us, because it is a lot of baseball.”