Trevor May finds a personal victory in Twins' 6-2 loss to Cleveland

Trevor May said there were some parts of his outing on Tuesday that reminded him of his major league debut. That's seems reasonable, since it's like his career is starting all over again.

May had to control his adrenaline against the Indians, misfiring at times but able to return to throwing strikes.

But while the Twins lost 6-2 to Cleveland on Tuesday, it was a victory for May, who went 683 days between major league appearances.

He thought about his rehab and what it took to come back from Tommy John surgery on March 22, 2017. Adrenaline was pumping. But he reared back for his first pitch since Sept. 11, 2016 — and dropped a 77-mile-per-hour curve for a strike to Francisco Lindor.

"I tried to look around a little bit and say, 'Hey, pat yourself on the back a little bit.' But to be honest, that hasn't been in the forefront of my mind," he said. "That this is my first time back. I just want to do the job. I want to do the job over and over and over again and help this team win because that's what I'm here for."

Winning wasn't happening Tuesday, as Trevor Bauer held the Twins to two runs — one a solo home run by Logan Morrison — over 6⅓ innings as he improved to 10-6.

Cleveland scored twice in the third and once in the fifth against Twins righthander Kyle Gibson, then added two more against reliever Matt Belisle in the seventh to take control of the game.

So May, who was called up on Tuesday, was sent out for the ninth. He topped out at 95 mph with his fastball and threw a few nice curveballs. His best work came after Lindor's leadoff single when he fell behind Michael Brantley 2-0 before fighting back to strike him out. He did give up a run when Lindor beat a throw from Ehire Adrianza with the infield in.

"Being through it and going through it, it's a long road back and I can only imagine the excitement he felt to get back to this level of competition," said Gibson, who had Tommy John surgery in 2011. "He's been working hard in Triple-A and worked hard in rehab for over a year. Man, just super excited for him to get back here and get an inning under his belt."

Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, whose season has been marred by a migraine, broken toe, strained wrist and a sickly batting average, is likely headed to the disabled list again.

Buxton, on the comeback from a wrist injury suffered July 13, left during the second game of a doubleheader against Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre with an apparent aggravation of the injury.

"That wrist that we thought was healed has resurfaced," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It wasn't until he took a couple of awkward swings in the game where it started to flare up."

Buxton underwent an MRI exam on Tuesday that came back negative. Molitor expects Buxton to be placed back on the DL.

Wednesday's game between the Twins and Indians can be viewed only on the Facebook video site, called Facebook Watch.

Scott Braun will handle play-by-play of the game, which will be produced by the MLB Network, while former Twin Glen Perkins and former Indian Jody Gerut will provide commentary and take turns answering questions from viewers during the game.

The Twins and Class AAA Rochester are expected to announce Wednesday an extension of the player development contract between the organizations. Rochester has been the Twins' Class AAA affiliate for 16 seasons.