Santana Gets the Call on Three Days’ Rest

It’s up to Johan Santana, a former reliever turned 20-game winner and Cy Young candidate, to save the Minnesota Twins’ season.

But he’ll have to do it on three days’ rest, instead of his usual four.

Santana’s task is trying to prevent the New York Yankees from ending the teams’ American League division series and advancing to the AL championship series. A fifth game, if necessary, would be played Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire is already planning for it.

“We’ve got Johan going [today] and we all know how good he’s been,” Gardenhire said. “That’s important. And then we have [Brad] Radke going back to New York. We’re packing our suitcases and finishing this thing up in New York, where we started.”

Javier Vazquez, who had a solid first half of the season for the Yankees but faded in the final weeks, will start today at the Metrodome, where the Yankees are 3-0 in postseason play.

Starting on short rest can tax pitchers’ stamina, and it’s rarely asked of them in this era of coddling expensive arms. But Gardenhire said he believes Santana is up to the challenge after having seen him pitch seven shutout innings against the Yankees on Tuesday without benefit of his usual overpowering stuff.

“You don’t want to mess around too much with these guys. The Yankees, you’ve got to throw your best at them, and if he wants the ball, that’s good enough for us,” Gardenhire said

“I think he had to battle the first time. It doesn’t matter who’s pitching against the Yankees, you’re going to have to battle, I guarantee that. That’s a lineup full of All-Stars.”

Santana hasn’t worked on three days’ rest this season but said that’s irrelevant under the circumstances.

“This time of year, it doesn’t matter. You have to be sure that you’re ready, because these games count,” he said Friday.

“I feel pretty good, and that’s the most important thing.... It could be three, four, five, 25 days [between starts], it doesn’t matter.”

Vazquez was given the start today by default. Orlando Hernandez, hampered by a sore shoulder in the final weeks of the season, “was in the mix,” Manager Joe Torre said, but Hernandez would probably pitch in relief before he starts again.

Vazquez was 14-10 but was 1-4 with four no-decisions in his last nine starts, and his earned-run average rose from 4.12 to 4.91 in that span. He skipped one start in early August because of an eye infection, but said he had no explanation for his late-season struggles.

“I have to understand that I didn’t do the best job I could in the second half,” he said. “I know that. You have to be your own critic.... I wanted to pitch in the playoffs, but I knew that I made the errors. I’m glad I’m getting that opportunity.”

Torre said he’s hopeful Vazquez will settle into a rhythm after three or four innings. “Sometimes he gets a little frustrated and a little overanxious,” Torre said. “Anything else is not a concern to me.”