For more than two and a half seasons, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli used only two options when penciling in his catcher into the lineup: Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vázquez. It was a remarkable run of health for the duo at the physically taxing position.

But that run came to an end in early August when Vázquez developed a serious infection in his left shoulder. About a month later, Jeffers suffered a concussion when he was struck in the face mask by a pair of foul tips.

The Twins have just under two weeks left in their season, but both are working towards a potential return. And Vázquez, in particular, is close to heading out on a rehab assignment.

Reliever Anthony Misiewicz, who has been dealing with a shoulder impingement since July, will throw live batting practice at Target Field, and both Vázquez and Jeffers have the option to hit off him.

Vázquez has a week of progressive activity, and should everything go well, he appears to be on track to join the Triple-A Saints on Thursday in Memphis and play with them through the weekend. The Saints’ season concludes on Sunday.

As for Jeffers, he is doing baseball activities but is not fully back to where he needs to be yet after suffering the concussion on Sept. 5, meaning if he does return before the season ends, it would likely be after Vázquez.

With both Jeffers and Vázquez out, the Twins have turned to Mickey Gasper and Jhonny Pereda, who have essentially been splitting time behind the plate for the past couple of weeks.

“Both are doing a good job working with all the different guys on the staff,” Baldelli said. “Game planning has been good, so I’ve been happy with what I’ve seen.”

López honored

Monday was Roberto Clemente Day around Major League Baseball, honoring the legacy of the hall of fame player and humanitarian. For the second straight season — and third time in his career — pitcher Pablo López was named the Twins’ Roberto Clemente Award for his work in the Twin Cities community.

Last month, López invited a handful of local students to join him in packing back-to-school supply kits for teachers that he purchased. He also joined teammates Zebby Matthews and Luke Keaschall at the Twins Community Fund’s adaptive softball clinic this summer. And through his “Pablo Day” initiative, which happens when he makes starts at Target Field, he has raised more than $22,000 for nonprofits representing causes close to his heart.

“He gives a lot to this game,” Baldelli said. “He’s an extremely dedicated and disciplined guy. But he also gives that to people outside this clubhouse. I think he finds it his duty to do things for other people consistently. Part of his mission, just as a person.”

Briefly

The Twins are continuing to employ a six-man rotation for now. That means Matthews will start Tuesday’s game against the New York Yankees with Taj Bradley following the series finale on Wednesday night. Matthews will be opposed by Cam Schlittler, who held the Twins to a run on two hits over five innings in August.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has approved one of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers for a seat on the Federal Reserve’s governing board, giving the White House greater influence over the central bank just two days before it is expected to vote in favor of reducing its key interest rate.

The vote to confirm Stephen Miran was largely along party lines, 48-47. He was approved by the Senate Banking Committee last week with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.

Miran’s nomination has sparked concerns about the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics after he said during a committee hearing earlier this month that he would keep his job as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, though would take unpaid leave. Senate Democrats have said such an approach is incompatible with an independent Fed.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote that Miran “has no independence” and would be “nothing more than Donald Trump’s mouthpiece at the Fed.”

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Miran is completing an unexpired term that ends in January, after Adriana Kugler unexpectedly stepped down from the board Aug. 1. He said if he is appointed to a longer term he would resign from his White House job. Previous presidents have appointed advisers to the Fed, including former chair Ben Bernanke, who served in president George W. Bush’s administration. But Bernanke and others left their White House jobs when joining the board.

Miran said during his Sept. 4 hearing that, if confirmed, “I will act independently, as the Federal Reserve always does, based on my own personal analysis of economic data.”

Last year, Miran criticized what he called the “revolving door” of officials between the White House and the Fed, in a paper he co-wrote with Daniel Katz for the conservative Manhattan Institute. Katz is now chief of staff at the Treasury Department.

Miran’s approval arrives as Trump’s efforts to shape the Fed have been dealt a setback elsewhere. He has sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden to a term that ends in 2038. Cook sued to block the firing and won a first round in federal court, after a judge ruled the Trump administration did not have proper cause to remove her.

The administration appealed the ruling, but an appeals court rejected that request late Monday.

Members of the Fed’s board vote on all its interest rate decisions, and also oversee the nation’s financial system.

The jockeying around the Fed is occurring as the economy is entering an uncertain and difficult period. Inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, though it hasn’t risen as much as many economists feared when Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports. The Fed typically would raise borrowing costs, or at least keep them elevated, to combat worsening inflation.

At the same time, hiring has weakened considerably and the unemployment rate rose last month to a still-low 4.3%. The central bank often takes the opposite approach when unemployment rises, cutting rates to spur more borrowing, spending and growth.

Economists forecast the Fed will reduce its key rate after its two-day meeting ends Wednesday, to about 4.1% from 4.3%. Trump has demanded much deeper cuts.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court ruled Monday that Lisa Cook can remain a Federal Reserve governor for now, rebuffing President Donald Trump’s efforts to remove her just ahead of a key vote on interest rates.

The Trump administration is expected to quickly turn to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch bid to unseat Cook before the Fed meets. And Cook’s lawsuit seeking to permanently block her firing must still make its way through the courts.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be added as it comes in.

President Donald Trump defended his order that flags be lowered to half-staff after last week’s slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk by suggesting he would have done the same following the assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker this summer had he been asked by the state’s governor.

That’s despite Trump saying at the time that he had no interest in calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

During an unrelated Oval Office event where he announced that he was deploying the National Guard to Memphis, Trump was asked why he signed an order lowering flags nationwide after Kirk’s killing during an event in Utah, but didn’t do so after former Democratic state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in June.

Trump replied, “Well, if the governor had asked me to do that, I would have done that.”

“But the governor of Minnesota didn’t ask me,” the president said.

He continued, “I wouldn’t have thought of that. But I would have if somebody had asked me,” and added: “Had the governor asked me to do that, I would have done that gladly.”

Trump said during the same event that he planned to attend Kirk’s funeral this weekend in Arizona and added that he’d likely be speaking.

“I guess I’ll say a few words, I don’t know,” he said. “But I guess I will.”

Walz’s spokesperson did not reply to messages Monday evening seeking comment on the president’s remarks, and whether Walz had requested the White House to order that flags be lowered across the country after Hortman’s assassination.

However, Trump’s assertions omit the fact that — days after Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburbs — the president was asked if he would be calling Walz. Trump suggested that doing so would “waste time.”

Presidents often reach out to governors, mayors and other elected officials at times of tragedy, such as after mass killings or natural disasters, to offer condolences and, if needed, federal assistance. But Trump said then that Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee against Trump in last year’s election, was “slick.”

“I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him?” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in June. He then added, “The guy doesn’t have a clue” and “he’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him but why waste time?”

Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, responded at the time with a statement saying, “Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a President for all Americans, but this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz.”

During the campaign, Walz often branded Trump and other Republican politicians as “just weird.”

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