Twins manager Paul Molitor looked at the calendar and decided that today would be a good day for some roster maintenance.
So he shook up the lineup to give a few players a day off. Or at least a start off.
Jorge Polanco, who has played well at short, is out of the lineup in favor of Ehire Adrianza.
"He's been one of our steadier guys," Molitor said. "Just going to try to keep him fresh as well."`
Byron Buxton, who struck out twice on Friday and is batting .184, is not in the lineup. By the way, Buxton is one of 13 players batting .200 or lower, a group that includes Kyle Schwarber, Alcides Escobar, Curtis Granderson and Alex Gordon.
And Miguel Sano is not in the lineup. Sano ran his strikeout streak to seven straight at-bats with four more on Friday. He looked to be overanxious and pulling off all the sliders Chris Archer fed him.
Sano also has played 43 of the Twins 44 games this season, missing only the game he served as a suspension following his kerfuffle with the Tigers.
With the Twins in a stretch of 45 games in 45 games, Molitor figured it was time to give some guys a break. In Sano's case, he probably needs to dial it back a day. It will be interesting to see how quickly Sano, who is one of the top offensive players in the AL, snaps out of his mini-funk.
