Rocco Baldelli, Tyler Duffey suspended by MLB after White Sox home run incident

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tyler Duffey threw 25 pitches in Thursday's first game, surrendered four hits and three runs including a long home run to Taylor Ward, and was ordered to leave the Twins' clubhouse before Game 2.

No, it wasn't because of his pitching — at least, not against the Angels.

Duffey was suspended Thursday morning for three games for throwing a pitch behind Chicago's Yermin Mercedes on Tuesday, but he suited up anyway after informing MLB he was appealing the penalty. After he pitched an inning in the first game, however, Duffey negotiated the penalty down to two games, and began serving the suspension while his teammates played Game 2 — a game he was virtually certain not to appear in anyway.

The righthander, who was also fined an undisclosed amount, will finish his suspension Friday in Cleveland.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who said the purpose pitch was unintentional — "We were going out there to pitch him in[side]," the manager said Tuesday — was fined and suspended one game, which he chose not to appeal. Baldelli spent Game 2 in a suite outside the Twins' clubhouse, with coach Bill Evers, who managed for 19 seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system, running the team for seven innings.

"It's fun to do," said Evers, who fills in whenever Baldelli is ejected, and who did the same for two games while serving as the Rays' bench coach under now-Angels manager Joe Maddon in 2006. "Both games, we had walk-off wins, so that was pretty fun. … Hopefully, I get the guys in the right spots."

Buxton close?

Byron Buxton, expected to be out at least a couple more weeks with a strained right hip, could play for the St. Paul Saints this weekend, Twins President Dave St. Peter said on a radio interview Thursday morning. But Baldelli sounded a lot more cautious.

Speaking about Alex Kirilloff's rehab-assignment home run Wednesday for the St. Paul Saints, St. Peter added on WCCO Radio that "you might see Byron Buxton over there over the weekend."

Buxton is indeed improving, Baldelli said, but he isn't yet able to run full speed. "He still has some work to do and some time before ramping up to sprinting," the manager said, casting doubt on St. Peter's prediction. Buxton's speed is too big a part of his game to risk reinjury by coming back too quickly, Baldelli added.

"With a muscle injury, he's a guy that you really have to be sure that he's ready to go when he comes back," Baldelli said. "I don't think it's fair to ask him to go play at half-speed."

Etc.

• Kirilloff is another matter, Baldelli said. The rookie's sore wrist has responded well to rest, and his play in St. Paul — he homered both Wednesday and Thursday — has nearly convinced the Twins to activate him as soon as this weekend in Cleveland. A decision will be made by Friday, Baldelli said.

• Max Kepler's hamstring is still sore, Baldelli said, but he played in the second game anyway. "It's obviously not ideal, but something he can manage," Baldelli said. Likely as a result of his condition, Kepler played right field while Rob Refsnyder started in center, the opposite alignment that the Twins would normally use.

• Kenta Maeda and J.A. Happ did not make the four-hour journey with the Twins but traveled instead to Cleveland for this weekend's series. The Twins, who were scheduled to land in Ohio an hour or two before sunrise on Friday, have yet to finalize their pitching plans for this weekend, but a fill-in must be chosen for righthander Michael Pineda, who is on the injured list after having a cyst removed. Randy Dobnak, who last pitched Sunday for the Saints, is a possibility.

• Nelson Cruz was hit on the wrist by a Steve Cishek pitch in the sixth inning of Game 1 and sat out the second game. But the injury was just a bruise, nothing broken, the Twins announced.

• Hall of Famer Rod Carew, whose No. 29 has been retired by both the Twins and Angels, sat behind the Twins' dugout during Game 1.

• The Angels drew an announced 19,740 for the doubleheader, a separate-admission pair of games that required quickly emptying the stadium after the first game ended. Some fans clearly were unaware that they would need to buy another ticket for the second game, and there were plenty of angry faces evident as ushers and public-address announcements shooed fans out of their seats.

• Former Angel Andrelton Simmons received an ovation from the sparse Angels Stadium crowd before his first at-bat on Thursday.