Centerfielder Danny Santana left tonight's game in the third inning with laceration of his upper left eyelind.

Santana doubled and stole third base off of Yankees lefthander Vidal Nuno. In the process, his helmet fell off, bounced off the ground and struck him in the face. Santana was headed for stitches when the announcement was made.

Aaron Hicks replaced Santana at third and remained in the game. T

Back to pre-game programming:

Righthander Mike Pelfrey, who was thought to have a sore shoulder, actually has tingling in his fingers because of the ulnar collateral nerve in his elbow. Pelfrey likely will visit noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who did his Tommy John surgery in 2012, for a second opinion.

The worst case scenario is that Pelfrey could have a minor surgery to alleviate the irritation on the nerve. His shoulder checked out fine.

Twins assistant General Manager Rob Antony said he was told that the nerve problem could very well be the reason why Pelfrey's velocity has been down this season. Pelfrey was hitting 94 miles an hour on the gun late last season but touching 91 this season.

Sam Fuld worked out at Target Field for a second straight day and could be turning a corner in his concussion recovery.

Aaron Hicks said he hit on the field before the game and told manager Ron Gardenhire that he's ready to play. Gardy chose to start Danny Santana anyway, pointing out that Hicks did hit on the field but asked to not have breaking balls thrown to him.

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan is back on the road. Ryan, who underwent surgery in February to remove cancerous cells from his throat, is watching Class A Cedar Rapids play this weekend.

Reliever Mark Hamburger has been assigned to Class AA New Britain after he served a 50-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy.

Gardy shakes up the lineup tonight. Plouffe is out of the three hole, Santana leads off. No Josmil Pinto though. You'd think he'd get a shot against a lefty.

Twins (24-27)

Danny Santana, CF
Brian Dozier, 2B
Joe Mauer, 1B
Josh Willingham, LF
Oswaldo Arcia, RF
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Kurt Suzuki, C
Eduardo Nunez, DH
Eduardo Escobar, SS

Ricky Nolasco, RHP


Yankees (28-24)

Brett Gardner, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Brian McCann, DH
Brian Roberts, 2B
Ichiro, RF
Yangervis Solarte, 3B
John Ryan Murphy, C

Vidal Nuno, LHP