KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miguel Sano's streak of six consecutive strikeouts, and nine in his last 10 at-bats, has forced manager Paul Molitor to reach a conclusion about his lineup. "I wish I wouldn't have played him yesterday," the Twins manager deadpanned.
But unlike his habit with other rookies who go through a sudden slump, Molitor has chosen not to bench Sano for a game to allow him to regroup. The rookie is back in the cleanup spot tonight, and he'll face Yordano Ventura, who has struck out 11 hitters in each of his past two starts. It's a show of faith from the manager, and perhaps a challenge to the slugger to stop trying to hit home runs.
"Every once in awhile, you're reminded he's still learning. He's only been here a couple hundred at-bats. When a guy has a good day against him, he's going to get exposed a little bit," Molitor said. "I think generally just kind of got a little overexcited about doing too much [in Houston]. I hope he backs it down a little and remembers the walks are a good thing, [to] be patient and get good pitches, and hopefully we'll get him back on track."
And maybe there's a bright side to Sano's rash of strikeouts, Molitor joked. "He didn't have to run a lot the last few days."
Here are the lineups for tonight's opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals were swept by the White Sox over the weekend:
TWINS
Hicks CF
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Sano DH
Plouffe 3B
Rosario LF
Hunter RF
Suzuki C
Escobar SS
ROYALS
Zobrist 2B
Cain CF
Hosmer 1B
Morales DH
Gomes RF
Moustakas 3B
Perez C
Orlando LF
Escobar SS
Ventura RHP
