Ehire Adrianza's first lefty-lefty hit is a double

DETROIT – Ehire Adrianza's 19th double of the season Wednesday might have been his most impressive.

Adrianza injured his left shoulder Sept. 2 against Texas while swinging against lefthander Yohander Mendez, which makes it hard for him to follow through when batting righthanded. The Twins have tried to protect him, but Detroit brought in lefthander Matt Hall in the eighth. Adrianza was supposed to bat righthanded but batted lefthanded instead.

That's not easy, because pitches that usually break toward a switch-hitter were now breaking away from him, which he's not used to. But Adrianza got a fastball and doubled to left.

"It's really hard, man," Adrianza said. "I don't know how those lefties do it, like [Joe] Mauer and [Max] Kepler. Those guys have been doing it for years. Today was my first time getting my first hit lefty-lefty. That breaking ball looks really, really hard to hit."

The Tigers were surprised to see him bat lefthanded in the situation.

"When I went back to play defense, the third base coach [Dave Clark] said, 'Hey man, what are you doing?' I say I can't swing lefty."

Adrianza said he's been receiving treatment for his left shoulder and has been taking some righthanded swings off the tee but is not ready to try it in a game yet. He will try it out during batting practice Friday in Oakland.

Garver, slowed by a concussion, wasn't progressing enough to have an impact on the upcoming series in Oakland, so he was sent home to continue his recovery.

Once the Twins return from the West Coast, there will be just six games left in the season. The likelihood of either of them seeing action before the season ends is diminishing by the day.

"You've got to be realistic about the chances," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I don't think it's very great for either of them to play. I talked to Mitch a little bit about the catching aspect of it, and I don't think he would like to put himself in that position here with a handful of games to go to risk something coming off it so recently, which makes sense to me."

After striking out four times in his return to the lineup, Miguel Sano was not in the starting lineup Wednesday but was available off the bench. It was his first game since injuring his lower left leg on Sept. 4. Molitor said the Twins planned it that way.

"This way we'll hopefully have him available today, and get him through today and tomorrow, and try to get him back on the field Friday when we play Oakland," Molitor said.