SEATTLE – Twins manager Paul Molitor looked at various models for his lineup for Saturday's game against the Mariners and acknowledged that a couple had Joe Mauer batting leadoff.

"I also had him batting second behind [Brian] Dozier," Molitor said. "There were some points made regarding Dozier's propensity to be able to score runs last year and Joe hitting behind him quite a bit. We talked about different combinations."

The Twins lineup was vastly different Saturday against Mariners lefthander James Paxton, one night after they faced Seattle star righthander Felix Hernandez. Molitor sat Oswaldo Arcia, opting for Eduardo Nunez in left. Dozier batted leadoff instead of the struggling Danny Santana, who is batting .154 over his last six games with 10 strikeouts. Santana was a revelation last season but that was due to a batting average of .405 on balls put into play. The league average hangs around .300, which led to predictions that Santana would come back to earth this season. So far, he has.

Molitor was asked if he was worried about Santana.

"I don't think worry is the right word," he said. "I think it's part of myself and my coaches and hopefully his teammates to show him support, encouragement and talk about things. Danny is a guy who will let you know. If you ask him how he is dealing with things, if he's having a hard time or his mind is cluttered, he is going to tell you. I think right now the fact he's having trouble putting the ball in play and his strikeouts are going up and he hasn't found a way to walk — he's had a couple games where he mixed in some hits — he's fighting it and he understands he's fighting that and trying to find a way to overcome that."

Mauer still has the best plate appearances on the team and is not fazed by facing lefthanders.

"You can go to your sabermetrics experts and a lot of times they are going to come up with Joe at the top of the lineup and I understand that," Molitor said. "How that would play in terms of him getting chances to get hits with men in scoring position and do some other things he's been doing pretty well, I'm not sure."

Mauer is pulling the ball more and is swinging at first pitches more. But those adjustments have yet to lead to him driving the ball consistently. His .305 slugging percentage was 26th among first basemen entering Saturday. He had gone 223 plate appearances since his last home run.

Molitor said he's not concerned about Mauer's slugging percentage. "If he's getting on base and getting his hits at the right time and starting rallies and doing the things he does, it really doesn't bother me too much," Molitor said.

Eddie G's memories

Eddie Guardado left the Twins following the 2003 season and signed with Seattle, where he played for three seasons. He was responsible for saving Hernandez's first major league victory, 1-0 against the Twins and Kyle Lohse on Aug. 9, 2005.

When Guardado arrived at Safeco Field on Friday, he looked up longtime equipment manager Ted Walsh and asked about Hernandez.

"Is he the same person he was as a rookie?" Guardado said.

"Absolutely," Walsh replied.

Guardado was pleased to hear that success hasn't changed him.

"When he was my teammate, he was a rookie in 2005, throwing 98 miles an hour," Guardado said. "Can he pitch? Yeah. Could you see it then? Yeah. Was he the pitcher he is now? No, but you saw the potential."