BOSTON – Roy Smalley played plenty of morning games in the majors, and doesn't much miss those days.
"You haven't lived until you've stood in the batter's box on a Saturday morning with the sun in your eyes and Nolan Ryan pumping 100-mile-per-hour heat past you," said Smalley, recalling his playing days at Metropolitan Stadium, when the Twins scheduled a.m. games on holidays and Gophers football Saturdays. "And that's after a night game and then who knows what on Friday night."
No offense to Rich Hill, the former Twins pitcher who will start for Boston in the series finale, but the Twins won't face that sort of challenge Monday. But they will face early alarms, 8 a.m. bus rides and the team's first pre-noon start since 2007, when they shared the Metrodome with the Gophers.
First pitch is at 11:10 a.m. Eastern time at Fenway Park, the traditional Patriots' Day start that has the Red Sox playing baseball while the Boston Marathon leaders race past just down the street.
"It's a special day for this city, it's a special day for all New Englanders," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who is a native Rhode Islander. "It's fun for us to be here [and] hopefully go out there and win a game. Spoil some people's holiday by going out there and playing good, that's going to be our goal. But the life and the vibrancy in the city is very real on this day, and can't be denied."
The Twins have only taken part in this Red Sox tradition once before, and considering their recent hitting problems, it's not a good omen. Hall of Fame righthander Fergie Jenkins pitched a five-hit shutout on April 19, 1976, blanking the Twins in a game that lasted 2 hours, 5 minutes.
MRI eases Buxton
Byron Buxton had felt soreness in his right knee for a couple of days before his awkward slide on Friday caused the center fielder to leave the game in the first inning.
"I just kind of aggravated it a little bit more," said Buxton, who remains on the active roster but has not played since. "I'm not too concerned. Once I came in and got checked out and got a look at my MRI, it kind of settled me down a little bit."
