OAKLAND, CALIF. – It will be interesting to see how the Twins use Marwin Gonzalez during the series against the Rangers.

Gonzalez, who was activated from the injured list on Saturday after recovering from a strained right hamstring, missed his second consecutive game on Thursday with a bruised right big toe. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he could use Gonzalez if he really wanted to but preferred to give him another day to let his toe heal. Baldelli also indicated that Gonzalez has other nicks and dings that are nagging him.

"After a couple of days he's going to be OK to get out there," Baldelli said. "He's available but he is sore and we just want to let him heal up as opposed to putting him out there, forcing it and causing something else to happen that we don't want to happen."

If the Twins determine Gonzalez needs a couple more days to heal after checking with him Friday, putting him back on the injured list could become an option.

The club could date the move to July 3. He would be eligible to come off the IL on July 12.

Gonzalez is batting .250 with nine homers and 26 RBI. His switch hitting and ability to play all over the field provide Baldelli roster and lineup flexibility.

There are a few other Twins players who are banged up and are looking toward the All-Star break as an opportunity to recharge.

"I would say it was definitely challenging in some ways, this road trip," Baldelli said. "We don't make excuses, but physically our guys are out there battling and we have very few guys I would say at full strength right now, so our guys are just going out there and giving it everything that they have."

Vasquez outrighted

The Twins outrighted lefthander Andrew Vasquez off the 40-man roster. He will remain at Class AAA Rochester, where he is 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA in 14 appearances. He recently came off the injured list at Rochester.

Vasquez had a brief and forgettable stint with the Twins. During an April 10 game against the Mets, Vasquez entered with the bases loaded, hit the first batter, then walked the next two, forcing three runs home. He left after that and was returned to Rochester.

The Twins have 39 spots filled on their 40-man roster.

Promotions

Baldelli continues to craft different lineups. For the second time, he started Luis Arraez in the cleanup spot on Thursday.

Who can blame him?

Arraez entered Thursday batting .447 with three doubles, four RBI and six walks over his previous 14 games. He went 3-for-5 on Wednesday to lift his overall average to .431. Arraez singled in his first at-bat on Thursday.

Third baseman Miguel Sano batted as low as ninth during the last homestand, but the slugger is swinging better and batted fifth on Thursday. It was the highest Sano has been penciled into the starting lineup since he batted fifth on June 19.

Sano responded with a walk and a single in his first two plate appearances.

Swing games mean a lot

Good teams win a majority of their swing games. That didn't happen for the Twins on this road trip; they dropped three games by two runs or fewer.

"We had opportunities to win in both of these series and we just obviously didn't get it done," Baldelli said. "But we will regroup, we'll head home and obviously got three more games left before the break and we'll give it what we have and then take a little break — but focus on these next three games first."