Twins call up Anthony Misiewicz, designate Joey Wentz for release or assignment

The Twins called up lefthanded reliever Anthony Misiewicz from St. Paul before Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Target Field.

Reliever Joey Wentz was designated for release or assignment and will go to the waiver wire.

The 30-year-old Misiewicz is 2-2 with a 4.02 ERA in 31⅓ innings for the Saints this season. He has eight saves and has limited lefthanded hitters to a .161 batting average.

Misiewicz has pitched in the major leagues for the Mariners, Royals, Diamondbacks, Tigers and Yankees. In 131 big league games (115⅔ innings), he is 8-9 with a 4.67 ERA.

The lefthanded Wentz gave up the only Cubs run in the Twins’ 8-1 victory Tuesday night. Claimed off waivers from the Pirates on June 11, Wentz pitched in six games and gave up 14 runs and 17 hits in eight innings.

Injured Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews threw live batting practice Tuesday, on the road back from a right shoulder strain that put him on the injured list retroactive to June 5. He missed his 30th game Tuesday.

He said he threw about 40 pitches in two sessions with a break between.

“It went good, felt really good,” Matthews said. “I felt normal out there. Obviously didn’t quite execute like we needed to. First time with hitters. A little excited, but it was good.”

Matthews threw against injured teammate Luke Keaschall, who urged the hard-throwing Matthews to pitch him inside.

“Zebby gave us exactly what we wanted,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “His stuff looked good. He was throwing two-ups. He got through it, went well. We’ll kind of reassess everything inside, see what the next step is. Luke, offensively the way he was swinging it, looked normal. That’s what you want. He put good swings on the ball.”

Matthews said the next step on the road back is a discussion with his manager and coaches.

“We’ll sit down and talk, probably today,” Matthews said Tuesday. “Kind of had to check this off today. Figure out the next steps and go from there.”