Louie Varland - Disastrous outing as bulk reliever Varland (0-6) took the loss Wednesday, surrendering eight runs on five hits and a walk over 2.1 relief innings as the Twins were downed 9-4 by the Rays. He struck out one. Impact After Ronny Henriquez worked a scoreless inning as Minnesota's opener, Varland got the call and sailed through two perfect frames of his own before the wheels came off in the fourth. Some questionable defense contributed to the disaster, including the right-hander's own throwing error on a pickoff attempt, and a two-run homer by Yandy Diaz finally ended Varland's night. The Twins don't get a day off until Sept. 12, so they may continue rolling with a six-man rotation, but there's no guarantee Varland will be the sixth man after this performance left him with a 7.62 ERA and 1.69 WHIP for the season. If he does get another turn, either as a starter or bulk reliever, he lines up to take the mound at home early next week against the Angels.
SEPTEMBER 5 • ROTOWIRE
