DETROIT - The Twins have a chance to affect the American League Central race this weekend, but Mother Nature made them wait Friday, as their game with the Tigers at Comerica Park was postponed because of rain.
The game was rescheduled for 6:05 p.m. Sunday as part of a day-night doubleheader. Saturday's forecast also calls for rain, but the Twins plan to use Samuel Deduno in the series opener, with Scott Diamond pitching Game 1 on Sunday, followed by P.J. Walters in Game 2.
The Tigers had Rick Porcello scheduled to pitch Friday, but they are delaying his next start. Doug Fister will pitch Saturday, as scheduled. The Tigers announced that lefthander Drew Smyly will pitch one of Sunday's games, though they didn't say which one, and they didn't say who would pitch the other game.
Detroit righthander Max Scherzer, who left Tuesday's start because of right shoulder fatigue, played catch Friday and was optimistic that he'd be ready to pitch Sunday. Scherzer, who is 10-1 in his past 15 starts, will test the shoulder in a bullpen session Saturday.
Take that, rookieIt's a September tradition in baseball for teams to make rookies dress up in costumes for one team flight. On their way from Cleveland to Detroit on Thursday, Twins veterans made 10 rookies wear orange prison jumpsuits, connecting the entire group with handcuffs for the flight and subsequent team dinner.
"It was like five hours just being stuck in handcuffs," rookie catcher Chris Herrmann said. "Whenever we were walking down the street, we had to make sure nobody was walking too fast or too slow.
"During dinner, they let us take off one of the handcuffs on our wrist so we could actually eat, but I was still connected to Liam [Hendriks] for the entire night. If anybody had to go to the bathroom, they unconnected us, but we had to put [the handcuffs] on as soon as we got to the table."
All in good fun, Herrmann said. He spent the season in Class AA before getting his first big league promotion Sept. 14. Upon arriving, he experienced another baseball ritual. After passing the hat, the veterans handed him $600 to buy dress clothes.
"I've been a minor league baseball player," Herrmann said. "I didn't really make much every month. They just volunteered, gave me $600 and said, 'Here, go buy some clothes for the road trip. Congrats. There's a reason you're here. We're going to take care of you.' "
Herrmann had been catching bullpen sessions at the Twins' instructional camp in Fort Myers, Fla., before arriving in Minnesota. All he had was casual clothes, so he appreciated the donation.
"If I'm here for a while, I'm going to do the same thing to future rookies, help them out as much as I can," Herrmann said.
Parmelee's a daddyChris Parmelee's wife, Amanda, gave birth to the couple's first child Thursday, a boy named Jack Jeffrey Parmelee, who measured 20 inches and weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces. Chris Parmelee is scheduled to return to Minnesota in time for Monday's game against the Yankees.