Twins lose another catcher, game

Morales goes 3 for 3, sprains ankle in major league debut

BY PHIL MILLER
Pioneer Press

CHICAGO - He was still in a lot of pain, but he knew someone else was probably hurting even worse. So after having X-rays taken on his swollen left ankle, Jose Morales took care of some important business.

He called his mom back in Puerto Rico and told her he was fine.

He's not, really, but Morales knew that his mother was watching his major league debut in San Juan on Saturday and saw him being carried off by the team's trainers during the fifth inning. He knew she would worry.

Morales badly sprained his left ankle as he arrived at second base on Jason Tyner's bunt single in the fifth. His foot turned 90 degrees, and he slumped to the ground in severe pain. X-rays taken during the game found no broken bones, but Morales was on crutches afterward.

"It's better than a break, I guess, but not good for us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You're looking at probably two to three weeks" before he could return.

It was a disappointing way to end a day that began so splendidly for the 24-year-old rookie, who was summoned by the Twins on Thursday to help fill in for injured catchers Mike Redmond and Joe Mauer.

Morales, already excited to learn that his father had flown to Chicago from San Juan to watch his debut, was inserted into the starting lineup for Saturday's game to catch his former Rochester teammate, Matt Garza. He ended up making a far bigger contribution.

In the second inning, Morales hit a sharp ground ball through the hole at shortstop for his first big-league hit. An inning later, he drove a Jose Contreras pitch down the first-base line for a double. And in the fifth inning, he hit a hard grounder that third baseman Alex Cintron couldn't handle.

That's 3 for 3.

"I don't think I have any words for that now," Morales said. "Having my dad here ... it was just great."

But before he could celebrate his 1.000 major league average, Morales was headed for second base on Tyner's bunt.

"I was running to second, and I looked at the first baseman" to see if Paul Konerko was going to throw the ball to second, Morales said. "I turned back, and I was going to slide, but I was on top of the base already. So I ran on top of the base, or I tried to. But it was too late."

He stumbled and turned his ankle, then fell to the ground.

"At the last second, it looked like he all of a sudden thought they were going to throw the ball there," Gardenhire said. "We know how long that takes to come back. That's a situation that's not very good for a catcher."

Or for the Twins.