Journeyman reliever provides excitement in the Twins’ 5-2 loss to Houston on Thursday.

Upon hearing the news that Jose Altuve struck out a whopping five times for the first time in his career, one would think the final K would come from the hands of a back-end-of-the-bullpen arm like Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax.

But no, the man who struck out the perennial Hall of Famer for the fifth time in Minnesota’s 5-2 loss on Thursday was no one other than 29-year-old journeyman Darren McCaughan.

On a 3-2 count with two outs in the top of the ninth, McCaughan caught Altuve looking at a sinker that just painted the bottom outside corner of the strike zone, igniting a fire among fans at Target Field.

Who is journeyman Minnesota Twins reliever Darren McCaughan, who embarrassed Jose Altuve?

McCaughan got the call to the major leagues from Triple-A St. Paul after the Twins designated Randy Dobnak, who hurled 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball a few hours prior, for assignment last Monday.

The final K of Altuve on Thursday capped off two scoreless innings from McCaughan to end the top half of the ninth.

The journeyman reliever’s night started with a bang, striking out Yordan Álvarez in the top of the eighth. He finished with four Ks and two hits allowed in two innings.

McCaughan’s first appearance of the season came against the Chicago White Sox last Monday, where he allowed just one hit across 2 ⅔ scoreless innings.

The Twins are McCaughan’s fourth major league squad. He made his major league debut in 2021 for the Seattle Mariners and has a career 5.93 ERA in 60 ⅔ innings. Last season, he pitched in two games for the Cleveland Guardians and 10 for the Miami Marlins.

It looks like McCaughan is the Twins’ go-to long reliever at the moment.

But, if he struggles or accumulates too many innings, there’s a good shot Minnesota will opt to get rid of him. For now, however, his spot in the ‘pen should be safe.