With six days remaining, Ron Gardenhire sees a little "youngness" beginning to affect his rookie players.
"Maybe seeing the end of the season coming up, they've got a lot of things going on -- packing, thinking about home. They all come into play this time of year," the manager said of Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas, both of whom are out of tonight's lineup. "Maybe giving him a little mental break here might help him out. They've both played a lot, and sometimes you lose a little focus."
Maybe so. Santana is 2-for-18 over his last four games with nine strikeouts, while Vargas is 1-for-11 in the past three. They'll sit tonight, allowing Eduardo Escobar to return to shortstop, his first start since jamming his shoulder one week ago, and Trevor Plouffe to act as the designated hitter, with Eduardo Nunez taking third base for a night.
Here are the lineups for tonight's final night game at Target Field:
DIAMONDBACKS
Inciarte LF
Pollock CF
Lamb 3B
Trumbo 1B
Montero DH
Owings 2B
Ross RF
Gregorius SS
Gosewicsch C
Chafin LHP
TWINS
Schafer LF
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Plouffe DH
Arcia RF
Pinto C
Nunez 3B
Hicks CF
Escobar SS
Gibson RHP