Arraez hopes to continue hot streak as Twins finish weekend series with Cleveland

The morning rain has come and gone, and unlike yesterday's odd postponement, there appears to be no worries about weather for the Twins' series finale Sunday against Cleveland.

Kenta Maeda is throwing lightly in the outfield, knowing his start has been pushed back to tomorrow in Chicago. The Twins want to avoid pitching J.A. Happ against a White Sox lineup that has battered him for 15 runs in two starts already this season, so Happ will face Cleveland today.

That's the only change to the Twins' lineup from the one they had planned to use Saturday before the rainout, one that includes Nelson Cruz, who has hit more home runs after turning 40 than all but 14 other big-leaguers in history. Sam Hentges, the Mound View High graduate, will start for Cleveland today, so the only left-handers in Minnesota's lineup are Trevor Larnach and Luis Arraez.

Arraez is on a hot streak lately, with a pair of three-hit games in the last week. He's 9-for-20, a .450 average, with five RBIs in the past five games. The Twins have won three of them, and it's probably no coincidence that Arraez is 8-for-15 (.533) in those games.

"When Luis is doing Luis stuff, driving starting pitchers to throw all kinds of pitches and annoying the heck out of them, the guys behind him [are] in better shape because of what he does," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He has these periods where he's on base three, four or five times a game. It helps you go."

Here are the lineups for today's scheduled 1:10 p.m. start:

CLEVELAND

Hernandez DH

A. Rosario SS

J. Ramirez 3B

E. Rosario LF

Bradley 1B

H. Ramirez CF

Naylor RF

Rivera C

Clement 2B

Hentges LHP

TWINS

Polanco 2B

Donaldson 3B

Cruz DH

Larnach RF

Jeffers C

Sanó 1B

Arraez LF

Celestino CF

Simmons SS

Happ LHP