MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday because of a ruptured tendon in his left wrist, but the team is optimistic about his eventual return.
Cruz was injured on a swing Thursday night in a 7-5 loss to Cleveland that cut Minnesota’s American League Central lead to a single game.
Tests revealed a rupture of the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon, but Cruz reported feeling no pain in the wrist when he arrived at Target Field on Friday.
“I can grab the bat,” Cruz said. “It feels good. Monday, I’m going to go to New York and see a specialist. We’ve got to go from there. But it looks as if it’ll be good in 10 days.”
Cruz has been a major piece in the Twins’ resurgence this season, hitting .294 with 32 home runs and 76 RBI while being a steadying influence on the team’s younger players. He leads the majors with 16 home runs since the All-Star break.
Minnesota recalled right-handed reliever Cody Stashak from Triple-A Rochester.
ORIOLES: First baseman Chris Davis said he reached a “breaking point” when he charged at Manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout on Wednesday night, and expressed his regret during a lengthy conversation with Hyde on Friday.
The flare-up occurred in the fifth inning of Baltimore’s 14-2 loss to the New York Yankees. Hyde walked over to Davis and said something that the first baseman clearly didn’t like, and Davis attempted to charge at the manager before being restrained by teammate Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long.
“It happened. Brandon and I have talked,” Davis said Friday, hours before the last-place Orioles hosted the Houston Astros. “I knew right after it happened we were going to be fine, and we are.”
Davis is batting .182 with nine homers and 31 RBI, hardly the production the Orioles expected from a slugger who’s in the middle of a $161 million, seven-year contract. Last season he batted .168, the worst average in major league history by a player with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
Davis has taken some consolation from his play in the field, but on Wednesday night he lamented being unable to snag a bouncing throw to first base that preceded a New York home run.
“For me, that was really kind of the breaking point,” Davis said. “It all boiled over. It wasn’t just from that play. For me, it’s been the last couple weeks.”
His reaction to that play in the field, his struggles at the plate and the beating the Yankees were inflicting upon the Orioles triggered the ugly scene in the dugout.
“He came off the field really frustrated about his play, and I got frustrated how he was responding,” Hyde said. “I thought some things were inappropriate and I called him out on it. I wish now that I would have pulled him down in the tunnel, but that was just me being reactionary to something I didn’t think was right.”
Davis regretted charging at Hyde, and that the scene occurred in the dugout.
“I think it just made it worse for everybody involved,” Davis said. “We addressed it. We’re moving forward. We have so much to look forward to; I don’t want this to be made into something it’s not.”
Davis was removed for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. He said he remained in the clubhouse until the game ended before leaving the stadium “just to be respectful” to his teammates.
TIGERS: The Detroit Tigers released second baseman Josh Harrison after reinstating him from the injured list.
The Tigers also released right-hander Sandy Baez to make room for right-hander Edwin Jackson.
METS: The Mets signed second baseman Joe Panik, a homecoming for the New York native.
Born about twenty miles north of Citi Field in Yonkers, Panik lived in suburban Dutchess County where he attended John Jay High School in the hamlet of Hopewell Junction. He played college baseball for St. John’s not far from his new team’s Queens stadium.
“It couldn’t have worked out any better for myself, personally, a lot of family, a lot of friends in the area,” Panik said. “For me to be coming to a club that’s hot right now… It’s very exciting. For me, it’s a great situation.”
The 28-year-old Panik was designated for assignment by San Francisco this week and later released. The Giants selected him in the first round out of St. John’s in 2011, and the former Gold Glove winner played a key role during the club’s 2014 World Series run.
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