Get nicked in the neck by a broken bat and hit a home run anyway? No big deal for the Twins' Mitch Garver Let the story of the Twins' Mitch Garver 's Tuesday night convince you, once and for all, that catchers are tough. Early in Minnesota's 3-0 win over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Garver was on the receiving end of Randal Grichuk 's broken bat swing, which nicked Garver in the neck and drew a bit of blood. After receiving proper attention from the medical staff in the dugout, what do you suppose Garver did? Take the rest of the night off? Nope. He came up in the sixth inning and clubbed a two-run homer, which would prove a key moment in the Twins' victory: . @mitchgarver took a broken bat off the neck in the 2nd. That didn’t stop him from going yard in the 6th.😲 pic.twitter.com/wzrKPJymow — Cut4 (@Cut4) May 8, 2019 Dude is tough. And kudos to Garver for sticking with it. It's a good thing the bat didn't cause more of an injury -- obviously for Garver, but also for Twins emergency catcher C.J. Cron : Mitch Garver said he was fine after getting scratched up by the broken bat. Got some ointment on the wound, which wasn't bleeding too much. He said emergency catcher C.J. Cron immediately turned to Wes Johnson and said he didn't know how to call pitches. — Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) May 8, 2019<doc-sep>Oh man, ​this must have absolutely hurt. During Tuesday's game between the ​Toronto Blue Jays and the ​Minnesota Twins, Randal Grichuk hit a fly ball that broke his bat, with the shattered piece hitting catcher Mitch Garver directly in the neck. Twins catcher Mitch Garver takes a bat to the neck. Umm, f’n ouch! #Twins #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/065i5D8BP4 — Jim Riley (@JimRileyLive) May 7, 2019 Garver looked like he avoided serious injury after the scary play, as he stayed in the game. The Twins seriously lucked out on this one, as they are currently without a backup catcher as Jason Castro is out on Tuesday with a bruised right elbow. Mitch Garver just got hit in the neck by a broken bat, he seems ok. Man that could have been a lot worse! #MNTwins — Shawn Lloyd (@JediMasterMason) May 7, 2019 Garver is currently hitting a scorching .345 with 6 home runs and 12 runs batted in. He's been the Twins' best catcher offensively as his counterpart Castro has hit just .244 with 4 home runs and 11 runs batted in. He's lucky that this didn't result in a potentially serious injury, as the shattered bat could have produced far more damage than a few small scratches.<doc-sep>The Twins will learn more about Mitch Garver's injury on Wednesday, once all the tests are completed. Until then we can only speculate if it's anything worse than a high ankle sprain. "We're definitely worried about Garv," righthander Kyle Gibson said after the Twins' 4-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night. "He's been one of our better players all year, and really consistent behind the plate, and hopefully everything comes back negative and he's fine." After watching the replay several times, I keep thinking back to 2011, when Buster Posey suffered a knee injury at the end of a collision at home plate. The next day, I spoke with both Joe Mauer and Terry Steinbach about what catcher's can do in those situations to avoid injury. Both said at the time that Posey could have used better technique, but it's tough to be that sound at game speed - and that also was when collisions weren't banned. What catchers were taught was to try to keep their foot parallel with the third base line. If a player slides into you leg, everything gets kicked backward and there's a chance of escaping injury. If your foot is sideways, that's when body parts get twisted and injuries are more likely to happen. Garver had his left foot in perfect position when he caught Buxton's perfect throw in the eighth inning, but he turned the foot slightly as he turned to tag Shohei Ohtani. It just so happens that Ohtani can fly and is hitting home plate at full speed and connects with Garver's foot just as he goes for the tag. And, again, collisions at home plate are now banned. So catchers aren't thinking about this stuff anymore. The timing couldn't have been worse for Garver, who was twisted to the ground, and could be out a few weeks. Again, this is not football. I'm not sure if high ankle sprain recovery time is the same in both sports. Let's see what the exams tomorrow reveal. And, if Garver is out awhile, who comes up from the minors? Is Miguel Sano ready? Would they bring back Jake Cave, who really needs playing time? Nick Gordon just landed on the IL. They don't need another pitcher. This will be interesting. This could make Willians Astudillo more of a backup catcher and make manager Rocco Baldelli more reluctant to start him and Jason Castro at the same time. So that could lead to a return of Cave, since they would need another outfield option than Marwin Gonzalez.<doc-sep>TORONTO — There was a fleeting moment of panic in the Twins’ dugout at the end of the first inning Tuesday night when Randal Grichuk’s bat sawed off near the handle and struck catcher Mitch Garver’s neck. “C.J. had an absolute heart attack,” Garver said of emergency catcher/first baseman C.J. Cron. “The story was that the first thing he did was turn to Wes (Johnson), our pitching coach, and said, ‘I don’t know how to call pitches.’ ” Luckily for Garver, Cron and the rest of the Twins, a little bit of treatment did the trick for the bloody scratch on Garver’s neck. Cron was spared, and instead, it was Garver behind the plate calling pitches for a stellar Jose Berrios and providing the offense in a 3-0 win over the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. Garver went 3 for 3 with a walk, taking starter Aaron Sanchez out to left-center field for a two-run shot on a 3-1 pitch in the seventh inning. The homer was his seventh of the season. “I’m happy to produce like that and (to) be able to take Berrios deep into the game like he does and get him another win,” Garver said. “Overall, just a very satisfying night.” Berrios, a night after watching Martin Perez throw seven scoreless innings, followed by doing the same. He cruised through his outing, striking out five and allowing just four hits. Neither Twins starter allowed a runner past second, and as a collective, the starters have posted a 1.40 ERA since the beginning of May. It marked the first time the Twins have dealt back-to-back shutouts since June 2013. “I’m talking to every starter here (saying) ‘I watch you guys before me, so when you guys go out there and pitch well, I’m going to do the same thing in my next outing,’ so I think that’s good motivation for us, and having each other’s backs,” Berrios said. The righty logged his fifth straight win, bringing him up to a major-league leading six on the year. He is also now tied with Zack Greinke for the major-league lead with seven quality starts. Berrios used his curveball to great effect and for the third straight game came away without allowing a walk. “He used his breaking ball exceptionally well tonight, I think,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think it was a true weapon in every way. He used it in every possible way and any way that he wanted it, he had it and I think he felt good and strong.” Baldelli turned to Trevor Hildenberger, Trevor May and Taylor Rogers after Berrios to seal up the final two innings, opting not to bring Berrios out for the eighth inning despite having thrown just 92 pitches. “The way he’s been pitching, he does make you want to leave him out there, but ultimately he gave us everything and put us in a great spot,” Baldelli said.<doc-sep>
Mitch Garver keyed another Twins win on Tuesday night but not before he suffered a scare with a bat hitting him in the neck. It happened in the first inning when Toronto's Randal Grichuk flew out to left field, but his bat snapped above his hands and the momentum of his swing brought the broken piece behind him, with the jagged end of the busted bat hitting Garver in the neck. A trainer applied some ointment to the cut on Garver's neck and he stayed in the game, which was huge because in the sixth inning he cracked a two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-0, the score they ultimately won by. Had Garver's injury been worse and forced him out of the game, C.J. Cron would've entered as the emergency catcher because Jason Castro was nursing a sore elbow after being hit by a pitch and Willians Astudillo is still on the injured list with a hamstring injury. "C.J. had an absolute heart attack,” Garver joked after the game, via the Twins. “The story was that the first thing he did was turn to Wes [Johnson], our pitching coach, and say, 'I don't know how to call pitches. I've never called pitches before.' So that was good." In addition to homering, Garver called a great game behind the plate as the Twins posted a second straight shutout win over the Blue Jays. Jose Berrios went seven shutout innings and Taylor Rogers earned his fourth save of the season. The Twins go for the series sweep Wednesday at 6:07 p.m.