NORTH BATTLEFORD - It has been a few years, but North Battleford's Andrew Albers is back in Major League Baseball.
The Minnesota Twins announced last week they had selected the contract of Albers, a left-handed pitcher, along with righthander Kyle Barraclough from triple-AAA St. Paul Saints. Albers was called up after the Twins announced they had placed another left-handed pitcher, Lewis Thorpe, on the 10-day injured list due to his left shoulder.
Albers was in action Friday night against the New York Yankees. In that game Albers pitched four innings in relief and gave up one run on two hits, one base on balls and recorded four strikeouts. The Twins ended up falling to the Yankees 7-5.
It is Albers' first major league action since 2017 when he played for the Seattle Mariners late in the season. It also marks a return to the Twins lineup for Albers after two previous stints with the major league club in 2013 and 2016. For the past three years, Albers has been with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.
Albers has spent most of this season with the Twins' farm club the St. Paul Saints. In 16 games in AAA this season, Albers had a 6-4 record and an ERA of 3.86.
Albers also spent time with Canada's national team and helped the team to a combined no-hitter during the Olympic qualifiers earlier this year.
