Injuries require some shuffling of Twins starting rotation

The Twins will head out on a short but expansive road trip with some intrigue among the starting pitchers.

Michael Pineda, who had a cyst removed from his inner thigh, went to the 10-day injured list before Wednesday's 2-1 loss to the White Sox at Target Field. The 32-year-old righthander, 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA in seven games, missed his start Tuesday.

The Twins recalled righty Luke Farrell to replace Pineda. Farrell pitched once this season, a scoreless inning in the first game of an April 20 doubleheader at Oakland.

Lewis Thorpe and Jose Berrios will start Thursday's makeup doubleheader in Anaheim, Calif., against the Angels. Thorpe will be the added 27th man and has pitched three times for the Twins this year, twice as a starter, with a 4.50 ERA in 10 innings.

Once the Twins are in Cleveland starting Friday for a three-game series, the rotation remains a bit vague.

"We have the games in Cleveland lined up, but … there may be a little shuffling there," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "And we may take just a little bit more time before we make those announcements."

Kenta Maeda, though, should start in Cleveland. He pitched only four innings against Oakland on Sunday because of groin tightness, something he has dealt with and played through before in his career. He should have pitched in the doubleheader, but Baldelli said Friday or Saturday is likely for Maeda.

"He's doing fine," Baldelli said. "Wes [Johnson, pitching coach] really liked the way he threw the ball [Tuesday] so I think we're in a good spot with him."

Rookie Alex Kirilloff returned to live action Wednesday with the Class AAA Saints as a designated hitter. He will move to the outfield Thursday if all goes well.

Kirilloff was placed on the IL because of a right wrist sprain May 5 and has since seen some hand specialists and received a cortisone injection.

"It'll be a very good test for him, but he's ready for it," Baldelli said about the rehab stint. " I think he's pretty confident in the way he's feeling right now. Something we've been waiting for and are excited about. On top of everything else, it'll probably be good for AK to get a few at-bats anyway, see some pitching and test that wrist out at the same time."

If Kirilloff makes it through the next few games for St. Paul without any unbearable pain or stiffness, Baldelli said Kirilloff could rejoin the Twins as soon as this weekend in Cleveland.

Bailey Ober wasn't really expecting to be on the mound Tuesday night in the big leagues. It was all a shock when St. Paul manager Toby Gardenhire called him Monday night to inform him of Pineda's condition.

"He just told me, 'Hey, are you good to pitch [Tuesday]?' I said, 'Yes sir, I am,' " Ober recalled. "He said, 'Good, you're going to the big show.' I was pretty excited. It was a dream come true since I was 5 years old. Really good feelings out there. I was super excited, just really, really grateful to be out there."

Ober called his parents in North Carolina, and relatives flocked to the Twin Cities from Connecticut and Arizona and Colorado. They all posed for pictures on the field after the game.

While Ober's debut wasn't perfect — four innings, five hits, four earned runs, two homers and a walk — he did strike out four and helped the Twins to a 5-4 walk-off victory.

"He's a smart guy. He knows what he's doing out there on the mound," Baldelli said of Ober. "But he also knows as he sees these good major league hitters, he can continue to make adjustments and figure out different ways to approach some of these guys. I thought it was a very promising debut for him."

Staff writer Phil Miller contributed to this report.