MIAMI — Minnesota Twins fans will have to wait one extra day to see the team play at Target Field after weather concerns forced the postponement of Thursday’s scheduled home opener.
The Twins cited a forecast which “calls for snow and cold temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday morning” as the reason for the joint decision with Major League Baseball, which pushes the opener back a day to Friday, which had been a scheduled off day.
The opener against the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros will now take place on Friday at 3:10 p.m., when temperatures are forecasted to be in the low-50s and sunny.
Sonny Gray, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday, will take the ball Friday, opposed by Jose Urquidy. None of the other starting pitchers will be affected by the change.
“There are times during the year where if games are moved, we have to shuffle a lot of different things,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “In this instance, it really doesn’t change much. We talked to Sonny very early on and told him that this could be a possibility. … It’s really just a flip flopping of the days without much adjustment.”
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All fans with tickets to Thursday’s game can use them for admission on Friday, and tickets still remain for the home opener at Target Field. This is the second straight year that the opener at Target Field has been postponed for weather-related reasons.
Lopez to face former team
Pablo Lopez talked with Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo, one of his “closest baseball friends,” about the possibility of facing off during the World Baseball Classic when they were teammates for Venezuela.
On Wednesday, it will happen.
Lopez is set to face his former teammates in the finale of the three-game series in Miami. It will mark the second time — also during the WBC — that he pitches at his old home, loanDepot Park, before debuting at Target Field.
The Twins acquired Lopez this offseason in a blockbuster trade that sent Luis Arraez to the Marlins. Wednesday will mark Lopez’s second start of the season; he threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings on Opening Day in Kansas City.
“Obviously I spent five years there, five years with the Marlins not imagining that I was going to have to face them at some point, but now that the time has come, it’s going to be fun,” Lopez said. “I have so many great relationships in that clubhouse. When you’re facing them, you’re obviously in that competition mentality, but there’s going to be some fun to it, too.”
Buxton update
Byron Buxton had his first day off of the season Tuesday. Baldelli said Buxton, who dealt with a knee issue all of last year that eventually led to season-ending surgery, has been moving well, but they knew within the first four or five days, there might be a day where he was off his feet.
“We’re just going to watch him every day. We’re going to see what he looks like, how he’s doing. And if he needs a day, he will get a day here and there. I don’t actually see that as that much different than anyone else in our lineup,” Baldelli said. “… The goal is to do things like this so he’s in the lineup (Wednesday) when we face the lefty and he’s in the lineup when we get home for the home opener and beyond.”
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Briefly
Max Kepler, who left Monday’s game early with right knee soreness, will undergo a MRI exam, Baldelli said, as a precaution. He said before getting those results that the Twins do not anticipate Kepler missing much time. … Arraez was presented with his Silver Slugger Award and his batting title award pregame, the latter of which was presented to him by Baldelli. … Nick Gordon was the Twins’ leadoff hitter on Tuesday, the first time in his career he’s started a game leading off. … Starter Chris Paddack has joined the team in Miami and will travel to Minnesota to participate in home opener festivities before returning to Florida to continue rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He is expected to help open the gates to the ballpark on Friday.
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