Blister derails Odorizzi's night vs. A's, and chance to pitch in All-Star Game

OAKLAND, CALIF. – Jake Odorizzi called it "one of those perfect storm areas" — where the blister on the left side of the middle finger on his pitching hand was near the nail and also covered the bottom of the finger.

That middle finger is an important finger for a pitcher. "It's fastball, slider, split that all come off of that same part of my finger," Odorizzi said. "You have a tendency to try to not put pressure on the ball with that spot, and that's when you start getting underneath balls and they start coming off a different part of your finger, and it is just not normal."

But Odorizzi tried to pitch with the blister from the second inning on Tuesday night, relying on past outings since 2014 in which he was able to pitch ugly and grind through decent outings. That wasn't the case against the Oakland Athletics, as he handed back a lead, and then some, in an 8-6 Twins loss. Odorizzi gave up a game-changing grand slam to Chris Herrmann — yes, the former Twin — in the fourth inning that put his team behind for good.

After the game, Odorizzi was placed on the 10-day injured list because of the blister. That knocks him out of both his scheduled start Sunday against Texas at Target Field as well as Tuesday's All-Star Game in Cleveland. Odorizzi was named to the All-Star team but now will be replaced on the AL roster as the focus will shift to ensuring Odorizzi in the best position possible to return to his earlier form once the regular season resumes.

"We talked that it is more important to have a strong second half than push it for one start to end the first half," Odorizzi said. "I'm just frustrated we ended up losing the game."

Righthander Zack Littell will be headed to Oakland from Class AAA Rochester to take Odorizzi's spot on the roster. Sunday's starter will be announced in the coming days, with Littell and lefthander Adalberto Mejia the favorites to start. Mejia, activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday, gave up one run over 3⅓ innings on Tuesday in relief of Odorizzi in his first outing for the Twins since April 30.

The blister appeared during the second inning, but there was little discussion about removing Odorizzi at the time. He knew some pitchers would look ugly but others could get outs. The Twins gave him an early lead 3-0, including a two-run home run by Miguel Sano in the second inning, Sano's fourth home run in as many games this road trip.

A's All-Star Matt Olson got hold of a 3-2 splitter from Odorizzi with two outs in the bottom of the third inning to get Oakland within 3-2, Then the fourth inning went like this:

Mark Canha reached on Sano's fielding error.

Ramon Laureano walked, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Wes Johnson.

Robbie Grossman, another former Twin, blooped a single to center to load the bases.

With the count 1-1 to Herrmann, manager Rocco Baldelli went to the mound with trainer Tony Leo, who checked out Odorizzi's finger. But the Twins left the righthander in.

"He seemed pretty confident in his ability to pitch with this one," Baldelli said. "It's a blister, but it's a smaller one. And it's overly visible and stands out, but not in a good spot — in a spot where we would prefer not to have to deal with it."

Baldelli has watched Odorizzi battle with blisters before; he was a Rays special assistant and coach while Odorizzi pitched for Tampa Bay. But Odorizzi's next pitch was obliterated by Herrmann to give Oakland a 6-3 lead.

It didn't take long to see how the decision turned out. Odorizzi might have been able to grind through despite the blister in the past, but not Tuesday.

"I try to not use that as an excuse," Odorizzi said of blister. "I'm going to stay in. I'm going to keep throwing through it. … I would equate it to a game where you don't have your best stuff but you manage to get through it."

With Odorizzi out, the Twins kept trying to scratch back. Jason Castro hit solo home runs to center in the fifth and seventh innings — his first home runs at Oakland in 29 career games — and Luis Arraez added a RBI double in the sixth.

But the A's also tacked on, with Grossman looping a two-out RBI single off Mejia in the fifth inning, one batter after Marwin Gonzalez's strong throw from left field retired Canha at the plate. Oakland doubled its lead to 8-6 in the eighth inning when Canha hit a no-doubter off Matt Magill in the seventh inning.

And Liam Hendriks — yet another ex-Twin — pitched around Sano's leadoff single in the ninth inning to earn the save.

Odorizzi's spot on the All-Star team will go to someone else. The next name on the player's ballot usually determines the replacement, so it's unknown what Jose Berrios' chances are to head to the All-Star break for a second year in a row.

After taking a chance that Odorizzi could get through a couple more innings despite the blister, the Twins will switch gears and make sure he is completely healed and ready for the post-break schedule.

"I think everybody acknowledges that this is just the smart play, it's the right thing to do," Baldelli said. "I'm on board, he's on board, our medical staff is completely on board. We want to make sure that he is healthy and ready to go. Trying to squeeze one more start in where there may or may not be an issue with him making that start, it's not worth finding out."