KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Twins are playing short-handed tonight, but it has nothing to do with the trade deadline.
Oswaldo Arcia's wife Karla gave birth to Oswell Daniel Arcia early Tuesday morning, and the Twins' outfielder remained behind in Minneapolis to be with his wife and newborn son. But when the Twins offered to put Arcia on the three-day paternity list, the 23-year-old Venezuelan declined.
"He said he wanted to spend the day with his family, and will fly in tomorrow," assistant general manager Rob Antony said. "So we'll just play short for a day."
Arcia's absence allows manager Ron Gardenhire to get both Danny Santana and Sam Fuld into the lineup, with Fuld making his first start in right field since May 1. Considering Fuld is batting .361 with a .474 on-base percentage since July 1, it's not a bad tradeoff.
Kyle Gibson will be on the mound for the Twins, his first start since July 18, and manager Ron Gardenhire said the righthander is under no restrictions. The back pain that kept him from starting last Thursday is completely gone, and Gibson will operate under the usual 100-110-pitch limit -- a level he hasn't reached, actually, since June 18 in Boston.
Gibson, who allowed one run in 6 1/3 in his only start against the Royals this year, will be facing Kansas City righthander James Shields, who is 0-2 against the Twins. Shields, trying to become a 10-game winner for the eighth straight season, has allowed 12 runs in 10 2/3 innings against the Twins, but seven of the runs were unearned.
Here are the lineups for tonight's opener of a three-game series:
TWINS
