Minnesota Twins outfielder Josh Willingham is out of Sunday afternoon’s lineup against the Detroit Tigers after receiving a cortisone shot in his balky left knee, the Associated Press reports.
The slugger had the shot after Saturday’s game, with the Twins scheduled for an off day Monday. Willingham and manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday they expected him to return Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, according to the AP.
Willingham leads the team with 10 home runs. He played in 59 of the Twins’ first 65 games despite the sore knee. A .258 career hitter, Willingham has slumped to a .211 average this season. He tells the AP: “I wish I could blame my hitting on it, but I can’t.”
Meanwhile, P.J. Walters will try to bring some starting magic to a wobbly Twins pitching rotation.
As Yahoo! Sports reports, Walters outdueled the Tigers’ Doug Fister in his season debut but unearned runs have helped spoil a pair of respectable outings for the right-hander recently.
After being called up from the minors May 25, Walters (2-1, 2.49 ERA) gave up two runs over six innings in a 3-2 victory in Detroit on May 25. He earned another win in his next start but has come up short of victories in his past two outings.
For the Tigers, Fister (5-4, 3.28) will try to snap a hard-luck skid. The right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer and pitched at least seven innings each of his last four starts but is 0-3 in those games, according to Yahoo!
