Baseball fans tend to get a kick out of watching a major league position player mop up for the bullpen when a team is getting its clock cleaned late, and it makes no sense to waste another pitching arm.

It’s a bit of levity, or morbid curiosity, to take a little of the sting off a blowout loss.

A day after infielder Jonah Bride put in two innings in a 14-3 loss to the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., manager Rocco Baldelli said he hates putting a position player on the mound so much that he’s petitioning his bullpen to start paying for it.

Literally.

“I’m petitioning our bullpen to throw in a few bucks every time we have a position player pitch, a little thank you and pat on the back from the boys,” he told reporters before Friday night’s 7:10 p.m. first pitch against Toronto at Target Field.

With one out and two on in the bottom of the seventh, Bride gave up a two-run double to former Twins outfielder Brent Rooker. Otherwise, he was pretty sharp in his two innings.

Bride was charged with two earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks and fanned one. He then pitched a scoreless eighth.

“He did a good job,” Baldelli said. “After the first inning, I asked him if he was ready for another. He started telling me all the things he was gonna do, and I just stopped listening. I said, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing fine.’ ”

Baldelli said Bride, 29, told him he had done it before, but according to baseball-reference.com, it must have been in the minors. Thursday was his first major league pitching performance.

He joins a list of Twins position players to pitch in games recently and includes Ehire Adrianza, Michael Cuddyer, Willians Astudio (seven times), Matt Wallner and Kyle Farmer.

“Only a couple of sickos really want to go out there and pitch,” Baldelli said. “Most of the guys that we have go out there and pitch, they don’t want to do it. They do it to be a good member of the team. But trust me, it’s not that comfortable for those guys unless they’re just a little cuckoo.”

Correa sits

Shortstop Carlos Correa wasn’t in the starting lineup Friday because of continuing pain in his upper back. He missed the last two games of the A’s series, explaining that the batter’s box at Sutter Health Ballpark was causing him to slip on swings, and his back to compensate.

“I can’t really say just exactly what he’s feeling,” Baldelli said, “but we felt he needed at least another day to get back here, get on the field, and just get himself in a good spot so we’re not sending him out there on the field not ready to play.”

New arm

The Twins recalled right-hander Travis Adams from Class AAA St. Paul and added him to the 26-man active roster. He was available to make his major league debut tonight against Toronto.

To make room, left-hander Kody Funderburk was optioned back to St. Paul. In his second stint with the Twins this season, Funderburk appeared in seven games, allowing eight runs on 15 hits and four walks in eight innings. He struck out four.