Bartolo Colon’s second appearance for the Twins looked a lot like his first outing. He gave the Twins a few innings, surrendered eight hits, including two home runs, but didn’t walk anyone and struck out two. This time, however, he didn’t figure in Monday’s decision.
But reliever Taylor Rogers did after he served up a three-run home run to All-Star Cody Belllinger, his 28th, and the Twins lost 6-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The reason Colon’s job might be in jeopardy, or Kyle Gibson’s, is that Falvey & Co. traded a prospect on Monday in exchange for veteran left-handed starter Jaime Garcia of the Atlanta Braves. Garcia had spent his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals until he joined the Braves this season. He is 66-52 in his career, including two 13-win seasons, and has a career ERA of 3.65.
This season with the Braves he was 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA, but also has 10 quality starts. The Twins’ rotation now looks something like this: Ervin Santana, Jose Berrios, Jaime Garcia and Adalberto Mejia, with a decision to be made about who gets that fifth spot. Will it be Colon or Gibson?
Gibson had his best start of the season Saturday after he pitched deep into that game for a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Otherwise, Gibson has struggled at 6-8 with an ERA of 6.08.
Extra innings…
-In addition to Garcia, the Twins also received catcher Anthony Rucker in exchange for pitching prospect Huascar Ynoa, 19. Ynoa posted a 5.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 14 walks in 25 2/3 innings with Rookie-level Elizabethton, according to MLB.com.
-Outfielder Eddie Rosario did all he could to help the Twins win on Monday by hitting two doubles and a home run, but it wasn’t enough.