Twins stay alive by trouncing Tigers

It wasn’t what they needed, but the Twins still have some life after winning two out of four games in Detroit. Thursday’s game turned into a rout in the eighth as Minnesota ended up winning 8-3. That leaves the Twins two games back with three to play.

What’s left may favor the Twins a bit. They have three home games against the Royals this weekend, while the Tigers have a home series against the White Sox. Let’s look at the probable matchups:

Kansas City at Minnesota

Fri: Lenny DiNardo vs. Jeff Manship

Sat: Zack Greinke vs. Nick Blackburn

Sun: Luke Hochevar vs. Brian Duensing

Chicago at Detroit

Fri: Jake Peavy vs. Edwin Jackson

Sat: Freddy Garcia vs. Alfredo Figaro

Sun: John Danks vs. Justin Verlander

Minnesota‘s starters are all tentative at the moment, but that’s how it’s lining up. Manship appears likely to get the nod on Friday because Francisco Liriano threw an inning Wednesday. Blackburn would be starting on short rest after being pushed back from Monday to Tuesday by the rainout.

The Tigers aren’t in such an urgent position, so they won’t go with Verlander on short rest Saturday. Verlander will probably be limited to a couple of innings Sunday if the Tigers have clinched by then. The Tigers will also probably want Rick Porcello to throw a couple of innings then.

The Greinke roadblock is huge, so even if the White Sox step up and claim two out of three games this weekend, the Twins have their work cut out for them to force a one-game playoff.

The Blue Jays placed right-hander Aaron Sanchez on the 10-day disabled list with a contusion in his right index finger, per a team announcement on Saturday. The assignment is retroactive to Friday. In a corresponding move, righty Marcus Stroman was activated from the DL (right shoulder fatigue) and will take the mound for the Blue Jays at 9:07 PM ET tonight.

Sanchez, 25, is in his fifth season with the club. He hasn’t looked his sharpest so far this year, going 3-5 in 15 starts with a career-worst 4.52 ERA, 5.1 BB/9 and 7.6 SO/9 through 79 2/3 innings. It’s not yet clear how long he’ll be sidelined, though he could miss as little as one turn in the rotation before returning to the roster in the next week or two.

Sanchez isn’t the only struggling starter in Toronto’s rotation, either. Per MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, the team placed southpaw Jaime Garcia on the DL (right shoulder tenderness) as well, with lefty reliever Tim Mayza scheduled to take his spot on the roster. In 13 starts this season, Garcia carried a 2-6 record, 6.16 ERA, 4.5 BB/9 and 8.2 SO/9 over 61 1/3 innings. Any further decisions pertaining to the rotation — including Tuesday’s starter against the Astros — have yet to be publicly addressed.