BOSTON -- Twins shortstop Trevor Plouffe left Sunday's game in the eighth inning with an injured left hamstring and will be re-evaluated Monday.
Plouffe, 24, said it felt like a cramp as he was rounding the bases, but the soreness was lingering after the game.
"See how it feels tomorrow," he said. "If it's up to me, I'm playing."
Earlier in the Twins' 9-5 loss, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury spiked Plouffe in the right knee as Plouffe tagged him out at second base. Plouffe was in obvious pain and had a nasty wound to show for it but played four more innings.
Manager Ron Gardenhire has been hoping to give Plouffe an extended look at shortstop, as the Twins try to decide whether to bring Tsuyoshi Nishioka back as a shortstop or a second baseman, when he returns from the disabled list.
Plouffe is 3-for-10 with a home run and a double so far in this series. He also has two walks and a hit-by-pitch, so he's been on base six times.
Defensively, he has yet to be charged with an error but has missed two tough plays that could have been scored as errors. Kevin Youkilis' fifth-inning ground ball Saturday was originally scored E-6 and later changed to a hit. Jacoby Ellsbury reached on an infield single Sunday, on a hard grounder that bounced off Plouffe's glove as he ranged to his backhand side.
