FORT MYERS, Fla. — Byron Buxton was in the Twins' clubhouse early on Wednesday, eager to get to work again after the Twins' mid-camp day off. "I'm seeing pitches a lot better now," he said. Hitting coach Tom Brunansky "has been throwing me breaking balls to get my pitch recognition down."
But shortly after talking about his desire to get back in the lineup, Buxton was scratched from it. The rookie outfielder developed symptoms of the flu, the Twins said, and he was given the night off. Darin Mastroianni, who stole a base and made a nice running catch on Monday, will start in his place.
It's unusually humid in south Florida today, with temperatures in the mid-80s. Buxton spent much of the early afternoon in the outfield with coach Butch Davis, working on his defense with Miguel Sano, so the weather may have played a role in his sickness. Sano returned to the clubhouse soaked in sweat and pretended to collapse into the chair in front of his locker, so it clearly was a draining workout.
The rest of the Twins' projected regulars are all in the lineup for tonight's final night home game, with a sold-out crowd expected. The Red Sox lineup includes most of their regulars, too, with the notable exception of David Ortiz.
The game is on FSN Plus,
Kyle Gibson makes the start tonight against Boston's Clay Buchholz. Here are the lineups for tonight's game from Hammond Stadium:
RED SOX
Betts RF
Pedroia 2B
Murphy DH
Bogaerts SS
Ramirez 1B
Sandoval 3B
Young LF
Swihart C
Bradley CF
Buchholz RHP
TWINS
Dozier 2B
Rosario LF
Mauer 1B
Sano RF
Plouffe 3B
Park DH
Escobar SS
Suzuki C
Mastroianni CF
Gibson RHP