Brian Dozier has served as the Twins' cleanup hitter for the past three games, but he's moving again on Sunday. Dozier will bat leadoff in the series finale against the Indians, a remarkable reflection of manager Paul Molitor's regard for the third-year player.
"If you've got a guy versatile enough to bat leadoff and cleanup," Molitor said, "that's not all bad."
Santana will remain the regular leadoff hitter, Molitor said, but "I'm going to give Danny a day [off]. He's been playing quite a bit, and I think sometimes it's good for him to back off just a little bit." Santana is batting just .195, and after a three-strikeout day on Saturday, has 13 on the season, and has yet to draw a walk.
"I still like Danny at the top," Molitor said. "I don't think I'm going to be changing that too much in the short term."
For today, however, here are the lineups as the Twins try to win their second straight series in Target Field:
INDIANS
Bourn CF
Kipnis 2B
Brantley LF
Santana 1B
Moss RF
Murphy DH
Chisenhall 3B
Perez C
Ramirez SS
House LHP
TWINS
Dozier 2B
Hunter RF
Mauer 1B
Vargas DH
Plouffe 3B
Suzuki C
Arcia LF
Escobar SS
Robinson CF
May RHP