Twins-Red Sox rained out, will play split doubleheader Sunday

BOSTON – The Twins played more than nine innings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so what’s another 18 on Sunday?

That’s their reality, after steady rain much of the afternoon forced the Red Sox to postpone Saturday’s game at Fenway Park. The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Sunday, one game starting at 11:35 a.m. Central time, and another one at 4:35 p.m.

Pablo López, who had been scheduled to face Red Sox righthander Kutter Crawford on Saturday, instead will draw Nick Pivetta in Game 1, while Crawford will take on Twins rookie Zebby Matthews in Game 2.

Moving López’s start back a day is a potential complication for the Twins, since the righthander, whose 2.35 ERA since June 23 is the fourth-best in the majors, was on a schedule that would have allowed him to start, on normal rest, the opener of a wild-card playoff series on Oct. 1.

“Yes, we’ve looked ahead, but really the only thing we are thinking about is just winning this game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Let’s get home and we can line up whatever we think is best, but I really don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We have all the calendars and spreadsheet and everything with the different options … but really, the only thing we need to focus on is winning the next game.”

For fans, the focus is on a few other things — like the Royals, Tigers and Mariners. Along with the Twins, the four teams are now two games within each other in a race for two American League wild-card berths. The Twins, who own the tiebreaker against all three, own the final spot, just behind Kansas City.

The gaps between the teams tightened Saturday, thanks in part to some more extra-inning drama. Detroit blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning at Baltimore but left the potential winning run stranded at third, then scored two runs in the 10th inning against former Twins reliever Yennier Cano and beat the playoff-bound Orioles 6-4.

The Tigers (81-74) pulled within a half-game of the Twins (81-73) for the third AL wild card and a game of Kansas City (82-73) for the second AL wild card as the Royals were held to five hits in a 9-0 loss at home to San Francisco, their sixth loss in a row. Seattle (80-75) is a game behind the Tigers, 1½ behind the Twins and two behind the Royals after winning at Texas 8-4 on Saturday night.

What this means is that by the end of Sunday — assuming the New England weather doesn’t interrupt them again — the Twins could be holding the second AL wild card spot, or they could be out of the playoff picture altogether entering the final week of the season.

The inclement weather might inconvenience the Twins’ travel plans, but it’s probably good for their bullpen, given that Baldelli used five relievers Thursday at Cleveland and eight relievers on Friday. The entire pen now gets both Saturday and Monday off, making their task of maneuvering through at least 18 innings in between a little more doable.

Concerned about the strain of the heavy workload, not to mention two 10-inning and one 12-inning game in the previous three days, the Twins summoned lefthander Brent Hendrick from Class AAA St. Paul late Friday night, optioning rookie righthander Ronny Henriquez back to the Saints, whose season concludes Sunday.

Headrick appeared in 14 games for the Twins in 2023, but a forearm strain in his pitching arm kept him out of the entire 2024 season until this month. He’s pitched in four games for the Saints, allowing two runs over 9⅓ innings and holding hitters to a .194 average.

“He’s heathy now. He’s gotten himself right,” Baldelli said. “We threw a lot of guys [Friday], so being able to bring someone in was important.”

With a 28-man active roster in September, teams are not allowed to add an extra player for doubleheaders, as they are when the roster limit is 26 the rest of the season.