Twins star Byron Buxton slept in a chair at home Thursday night after he was hit by a pitch in the ribs and left his team’s 7-6 victory over Cleveland in the fourth inning.
An X-ray taken Friday showed no broken ribs.
“That was the good news this morning,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s going to be pretty sore for a while. We’ll just evaluate him each day; we always do.”
Buxton wasn’t in Friday’s lineup, and neither was Carlos Correa after the shortstop aggravated the plantar fasciitis and heel pain in his foot and left Thursday’s game after seven innings.
Correa will get treatment and maybe cushioning or padding in his cleats to help with the pain.
“I think Carlos has a hope of starting tomorrow,” Baldelli said. “We’re just going to treat his heel and see how he is by the end of the day.”
The Twins then lost another player when Joey Gallo was a late scratch because of left hamstring tightness. Gallo had been slated to play left field and hit seventh but was replaced by Willi Castro, leaving the Twins with a bench of one healthy player in catcher Christian Vázquez.
The third Twins player who left Thursday’s game prematurely — right fielder Max Kepler, who suffered a migraine — returned to the lineup Friday.
That’s a new one
Buxton had a pack wrapped around the left side of his ribs before Friday’s game.
“I have never been hit there before,” he said.
Not even during his football career? “I’m doing the hitting there,” he said. “I never had to get hit there.”
Buxton will undergo treatment and evaluation daily.
Asked if the oft-injured Buxton will follow the training staff’s advice, Baldelli said: “Most of the time. I think in this case, he will.”
Buxton was relieved there was no serious damage and said his return should be only a matter of days.
“To know nothing’s wrong and it’s just a bruise, for me that’s a big positive,” he said. “Most of the time, I’m on the other end of that kind of deal. Definitely good spirits.”
Correa feels ‘stretch’
Correa said he “took a wrong step” and caught his cleats on the grass between innings Thursday.
“I felt it stretch,” he said. “I was having a great day and then that happened and it completely changed the course of how I was feeling. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.”
Correa called himself encouraged when he awakened Friday morning.
“The day after I woke up was a lot better than the last time,” Correa said. “That’s a good thing and I hit today and worked out, not just run and take ground balls. We’ll see how it works out tomorrow.”
Thielbar back
Reliever Caleb Thielbar was back at Target Field after pitching twice in a rehab assignment with Class AAA St. Paul in Buffalo, N.Y.
He pitched a perfect inning Thursday in a 11-5 victory. He is on the 15-day injured list because of a right oblique strain.
“Hopefully we’ll activate him soon,” Baldelli said. “He had a good rehab assignment. I think he came out of it good.”
Saints’ streak ends
The St. Paul Saints’ winning streak ended at five games Friday with a 4-1 loss to the host Buffalo Bisons. Kyle Garlick hit his seventh home run of the season.