Perez 'OK' after taking line drive off foot
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins starter Martín Pérez was removed during the sixth inning of Minnesota’s 5-3 loss to the Tigers on Sunday after taking a line drive off his left ankle area, but he said after the game that he feels fine and expects to be ready for his next start.
The liner off the bat of Tigers designated hitter Nicholas Castellanos left the bat at 105.2 mph and ricocheted off Perez’s left leg as he brought it around the front of his body on his follow-through. The ball caromed out to the third-base side of the infield, allowing Castellanos to reach on an infield single.
“It was pretty quick and I was scared and I was trying to field that ball, but it was too hard,” Perez said. “But I’m OK.”
Perez was examined on the mound by manager Rocco Baldelli and athletic trainer Masa Abe before he was removed from the game. He walked off the field under his own power and without a noticeable limp, and was diagnosed with a left foot contusion.
Perez, who had been reinstated from the paternity list on Sunday following the birth of his son, Martin, on Thursday, had allowed three runs in five-plus innings on four hits, including two homers, to snap a 15-inning scoreless streak that he carried into the start. He was seeking a win in his sixth consecutive decision but exited with the Twins trailing, 3-0, and ultimately took his first loss of the season.
Two of the three hits the southpaw allowed before that infield single were homers -- a two-run shot by Castellanos in the first inning and a solo homer by Brandon Dixon in the second. Perez was still happy with his outing; the homer by Castellanos came on his only curveball of the game, and Dixon’s shot came on a pitch far out of the strike zone after what should have been a called third strike one pitch earlier.
“There was one pitch to Castellanos, the curveball, and the second homer was a cutter in,” Perez said. “Like real, real in, and I don’t know how he hit that ball. But I think it was a great game. We hit, but we don’t score so many runs, so that happens.”