CHICAGO — Twins reliever Pat Neshek will have his injured right elbow examined by Twins orthopedist Dr. Dan Buss on Friday morning.

Neshek, 27, left today’s game in the eighth inning after throwing a slider to Chicago’s Joe Crede. He was diagnosed with an elbow strain.

“I don’t know medical terms or anything like that,” Neshek said. “It just felt like it tweaked, rolled over real quick like a snap, kind of. We’re going to get it checked out tomorrow morning and make sure nothing happened.”

(NOTE: I misquoted Pat earlier, thinking I heard him say it felt like “it snapped.” Went back and listened to my recorder and realized he said “It just felt like it tweaked, rolled over real quick like a snap.” Big difference there, and I regret the error. I’m sure this is hard enough for Pat and his family tonight, dealing with the uncertainty. Anyway, the headline on this post has been changed. La Velle will have updates as we get them Friday.)

Though Neshek wasn’t sure, it seems likely that he will have an MRI exam.

He said he is “a little concerned because I’ve never had anything like that. Last year, I had a weak shoulder, but this is something I had to come out of the game for.”

This is a tough development for the Twins. If the injury proves serious, the Twins would lose their top set-up man, a key piece to their success. Neshek has a 4.72 ERA in 15 appearances.

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