Oswaldo Arcia is in at designated hitter today. Part of the reason is that manager Paul Molitor thinks that Arcia can hit Angels righthander Jhoulys Chacin. The other is that Byung Ho Park is in a 0-for-11 skid with eight strikeouts.
Molitor has noticed Park getting beat on fastballs and getting fooled by breaking balls. The greater concern is that Park is losing confidence, and Molitor wants to make sure Park doesn't get away from what makes him effective. But today, he's going with Arcia. Park took early batting practive today and will be ready if needed.
Righthander Ervin Santana has lost his last four starts, and it's mostly because his command is off and he's leaving mistakes up and out over the plate. Perhaps playing against his former team will have him fired up to do well. In the only time he's faced the Angels here, he threw eight shutout innings at them on July 23. Remember, that's one reason why the Twins felt they could contend this season, because they would have Ervin Santana for a full season. But the impostor posing as Santana is1-6 with a 4.77 ERA.
Waiting to hear the results of Glen Perkins' second opinion, which took place today in Los Angeles. As of this writing, the Twins had not heard the results, and one official guess it might be tomorrow before L.A. specialist Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache confers with Twins team doctor Dr. John Steubs.
Twins
Eduardo Nunez, SS
Robbie Grossman, LF
Joe Mauer, 1B
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Brian Dozier, 2B
Oswaldo Arcia, DH
Max Kepler, RF
Juan Centeno, C
Byron Buxton, CF
Ervin Santana, RHP
Angels
