MINNEAPOLIS -- Before the Twins turned Friday night's game against the Royals into a blowout 9-1 win, it came as no surprise that they turned to high-leverage relievers Tyler Duffey and Hansel Robles to protect their lead in the late innings.

The next arm out of the bullpen, though, was Jorge Alcala, a relative newcomer to such situations. After the 25-year-old threw a pair of scoreless innings to close out the Twins' victory, now could finally be the time for the hard-throwing right-hander to take the next step in his career into a higher-leverage role.

"Seeing him step up like that and step into that moment is great, because we need guys to step up," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "And we need guys to take on some new roles and he's going to be a guy that we're going to look to help us win some of these games and go get good hitters out."

The Twins need someone to step up due to the early struggles of Alex Colomé. He was signed over the offseason to serve as the club's de facto closer in most situations, but was transitioned to lower-leverage spots after he either relinquished the lead or pitched the Twins into a deficit in five of his first eight appearances.

So, the opportunity is certainly there for Alcala -- and the Twins hope he can seize it.

Alcala, acquired in the trade that sent Ryan Pressly to Houston, certainly has the raw stuff to make a high-leverage role work. He's one of three Twins in the pitch-tracking era to throw a pitch in excess of 100 mph, joining Juan Morillo and Brusdar Graterol. He pairs that fastball with a power slider that could be a weapon out of the bullpen.

But as he has adjusted to the consistency and routine necessary to succeed in the Majors, the Twins have protected him by keeping him in the lowest-leverage situations -- though they noted in Spring Training that he was close to taking the next step.

Though Alcala has a 2.78 career ERA in 27 appearances, Friday night's outing marked the first time this season that he pitched with the Twins not trailing or up by more than five runs. He only pitched in two such situations last year.

"I think just getting him out there, getting him in the game and him feeling that emotion is really the most important thing, and he handled that really, really well," Baldelli said.

When Alcala puts it all together and gets used to the moment, he could become a mainstay in such a role. Friday might have been the start.

"He gets fired up, and that's fun to watch," Duffey said. "He's a young kid who's got incredible stuff. You've got to get your opportunities and work into those spots, and the more you prove yourself, the more the opportunities come."

Sanó to get more at-bats before return
Miguel Sanó was eligible to be activated off the 10-day injured list on Saturday following his recovery from a strained right hamstring, but the Twins are holding off from rushing him back to the field, with the hope that he'll be able to get more comfortable at the plate before his return.

"We want to make sure that he sees a little pitching and gets some more swings and tries to get his timing ready to go," Baldelli said. "We want him feeling good offensively before we bring him back and activate him."

Sanó was 5-for-45 with 20 strikeouts to begin the season, due in part to swinging through hittable pitches in the strike zone at the highest rate of his career. His eye at the plate was still strong, as evidenced by his team-leading 13 walks, but the timing issues at the plate that have plagued him at times throughout his career have also been evident.

Alex Kirilloff, who homered twice on Friday, can continue to man first base in Sanó's absence.

But with Triple-A St. Paul scheduled to hit the road to open their season on Tuesday, Sanó can no longer get regular plate appearances at the alternate training site. He'll remain in Minneapolis with the Twins, who will try to get him plate appearances either in live pitching sessions specifically set up for him or against the velocity machine.