Here are three thoughts from LEN3 following the Twins loss to Houston:


First baseman Tyler Austin chased after a foul ball in the seventh inning and fell on his back when he tried to pull up to avoid running into the rail in front of the Astros dugout.

One Astros player motioned for the Twins trainers to come over to help Austin, but he got up and tried to shake it off. But Austin came out of the game after the inning and will be re-evaluated Thursday and Friday.

"His back's a little bit tight," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "He took a pretty good slip and fall over there. He wanted to keep trying to play and he started getting a little more stiff, so we thought we'd get him out. We'll get him checked out to make sure he's ok."

Sano update

Miguel Sano is being treated in three different areas in his lower left leg. But he focused on the contusion near his left knee one day after injuring himself when he slid into second base and leaving the field on a cart.

"I got scared because I thought I broke my leg at that moment when I hit the bag," Sano said. "But, obviously, I didn't."

X-Rays confirmed that there was no break, and Sano will go in for treatment on Thursday and might be available on Friday.

"Tomorrow is a day off," Sano said. "I'm going to go to the field and work on rehab with Tony, get in the water and work my knee. My knee hurts right now, but it is better than yesterday. Hopefully the next day I will go hit in b.p. and see how I feel."

In both cases, Austin's and Sano's, what's the rush? If they need to rest a few days to get right, keep them out of the lineup, No bosuns points now for playing at less than 100 percent.

The only problem would be if Sano's injury was serious, which it doesn't appear to be.

No Odo mojo

Jake Odorizzi sounded like someone who can wait to hit the reset button after this season.

Odorizzi was knocked out in the fifth inning on Wednesday after giving up five runs - including two, two-out, two-run homers that put the Twins in a 4-0 hole. Now, 5-10 with a 4.57 ERA. Odorizzi said he plans to try to pitch as well as he can over his final three starts of the season - then look forward to 2019.

The Twins expected a little more from him when they traded for him at the start of camp. It seemed like it took a while for him to find his change up, and every mistake he made got pounded. He's completed seven innings just once all season - and that was on Aug. 24.

"Finished the last three good, flush the season away, get back at it next spring," Odorizzi said. "That's how I'm trying to compartmentalize this year and forget about it as soon as possible."

It's been a strange season for Odorizzi. ERA is definitely up. But strikeout rate is up. Opponents BABIP of .300 is the highest it's been in a handful of years, suggesting opponents are living large against him. He's change up usage is down, suggesting his struggles and reluctance. His home run rate is down from last season and below his career average. It just hasn't clicked for him this season.