Another hand injury has pushed right fielder Michael Cuddyer on the disabled list for the second time this season. Cuddyer has been suffering through pain in his left index finger for the past couple weeks, the outfielder said, but on Saturday the pain got so bad he could no longer grip a bat and had to sit out.
A Twins doctor called the injury a strained tendon in the finger and when Cuddyer's finger hadn't improved by the time doctors checked him out Sunday morning, Minnesota made the move, placing Cuddyer on the 15-day DL and recalling outfielder Denard Span from Class AAA Rochester to take his place on the 25-man roster. Looking to continue a stretch of superb play, the loss of Cuddyer is a heavy one for the Twins. The right fielder is one of the team's leaders, but he's also invaluable on defense and has been on an offensive upswing of late, batting .300 since June 16, with 13 RBIs this month.
"Especially in this time where we're about to play the Tigers and the Indians, those division guys, it's frustrating," Cuddyer said. "These guys have been playing well, we've been playing well as a unit and playing well as a team. Hopefully we'll continue to be able to do that."
Asked how he plans to use Span (who should be available in time for Monday's game), manager Ron Gardenhire said, "I just plan to try to keep winning. We're going to win however we can do that. He's going to play, I don't want him up here to sit, but we're going to mix them all in, use them all."
TWINS 5, BREWERS, 0: RHP Kevin Slowey threw his first career complete-game shutout and Minnesota worked Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets for nine hits as the Twins won their fourth-straight series and improved to 14-2 in their last 16 games.
