A second round of tests on Miguel Sano's left hand came back negative, and the big man is standing next to the batting cage holding a bat as I write this.
Twins manager Paul Molitor is sure that Sano has peace of mind now that he's had the hand checked out again. It's not clear if Sano will be available as a pinch hitter tonight. But at least he appears to be on a path to return to action.
This is the first of four games between the Brewers and Twins - two games here and two games there - but it's a format I'm not a fan of. Interleague rival series should be two three-game series, preferably on the weekend. For some reason, this is the way the schedule shakes out. Next year, the Twins will play the NL Central in interleague. That's usually when two three-game series are played.
It's hard to optimize this matchup when it's held durimg the week. And two-game series stink, anyway.
In  minor league news, the Twins have promoted lefthander Stephen Gonsalves to Class AAA Rochester after he went 8-3, 2.68 for Class AA Chattanooga. Maybe he'll get a look in September.
Brewers
Domingo Santana, RF
Ryan Braun, LF
Travis Shaw, 3B
Jesus Aguilar, DH
Eric Thames, 1B
Hernan Perez, 2B
Orlando Arcia, SS
Keon Broxton, CF
Andrew Susac, C
Brent Suter, LHP
Twins
Brian Dozier, 2B
Joe Mauer, 1B
Robbie Grossman, RF
Eduardo Escobar, DH
Eddie Rosario, LF
Byron Buxton, CF
Ehire Adrianza, CF
Jason Castro, C
Jorge Polanco, SS
Ervin Santana, RHPÂ
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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