Sonny Gray selected as Twins' lone All-Star

Sonny Gray will wear a third different uniform in his third different All-Star Game next week in Seattle. Maybe he will do something else a little different, too: Pitch.

Gray was the lone Twins player selected to the 32-member AL All-Star team, marking the 27th time in the franchise's 63-year history that only one player will represent the Twins, and the seventh time that he's a pitcher.

It's the third time Gray has been chosen to the All-Star Game; he represented Oakland in 2015 and Cincinnati in 2019, but didn't pitch in either game.

The roster decision likely came as a disappointment to fellow Twins starter Joe Ryan and reliever Jhoan Duran, each of whom was promoted by his manager for a spot on the team.

"[Jhoan] Duran is a very easy guy to lobby for, the way he's thrown the ball this year," Rocco Baldelli said earlier this week. "Those guys have had wonderful first halves. I'm hoping they get acknowledged for everything they've done, because they've been great."

Gray ranks fourth in the majors in ERA at 2.50, and has given up only three home runs in 93⅔ innings, though at 4-2, he hasn't been credited with a victory since April. With his next start scheduled for Saturday against the Orioles, it's possible he could be cleared to pitch an inning in the July 11 game.

Ryan's ERA is 3.44 to go along with an 8-5 record, and on June 22 he pitched the first complete-game shutout by a Twins pitcher since 2018. But his most recent start, Tuesday in Atlanta, was one of the worst of his career. He gave up six runs in three innings.

Duran's blown save Sunday was his third this season, in 15 opportunities. The major leagues' hardest-throwing pitcher has struck out 43 hitters in 32⅔ innings, with a 1.93 ERA.

The Twins are a first-place team, but with every team in the AL Central owning a losing record, only six players from the division were selected. Only Cleveland, with José Ramírez and Emmanuel Clase, has two All-Stars.

There are three ex-Twins going to the All-Star Game, too, and all three were traded away over the past 17 months. Oakland outfielder Brent Rooker and Baltimore reliever Yennier Cano were named AL All-Stars on Sunday. NL batting leader Luis Arraez of Miami was previously announced as a starter for the NL.

The Twins' Opening Day third baseman is back in the lineup, though his future at the position is now far more muddled.

Royce Lewis went on the 10-day injured list on Sunday after suffering a strained left oblique muscle while trying to beat out an infield hit during Saturday's victory at Baltimore.

That opened a roster spot, and possibly an everyday job, for Jose Miranda, whose second season has so far been a disappointment.

Miranda was sent down to Class AAA St. Paul on May 10 after batting .220 with three home runs in 35 games. The 25-year-old Puerto Rican got off to a slow start with the Saints, but he has shown improvement of late, hitting .279 with two homers over his past 11 games.

Lewis "will be out a little while, for sure," Baldelli told reporters in Baltimore, so Miranda was in the starting lineup, batting seventh, on Sunday. He flew out on a high changeup in the second inning, and hit into a double play in the fourth before being removed for pinch hitter Joey Gallo before his next at-bat.

Miranda also threw errantly to first base after fielding Austin Hays' ground ball in the second inning, causing a collision between first baseman Donovan Solano and Hays and knocking the Orioles outfielder out of the game.

Trevor Larnach went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI, Andrew Stevenson hit a second-inning grand slam and the Saints beat Gwinnett 11-5 at CHS Field. The Saints go for a six-game series sweep Monday night, when they will hold a fireworks show after the game.