Rangers at Twins
All-Star Miguel Sano is questionable to play for the Minnesota Twins on Saturday when they host the Texas Rangers for the third contest of their four-game series. Sano left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch on his left hand and ensuing X-rays determined that he suffered a bruise and not a broken bone.
Sano, who is 4-for-6 with a homer against scheduled Texas starter Cole Hamels, sat out two games in late July after being plunked on the same hand, and the latest situation is prompting Minnesota manager Paul Molitor to take a wait-and-see approach. "We have all seen broken bones on pitches like that," Molitor told reporters of Sano, who has 25 homers. "He's been able to dodge that a couple times. That one scared me, the way he went down. I was surprised he got up as quickly as he did." Minnesota moved within 3 1/2 games of Kansas City for the American League's second wild-card spot after Friday's 8-4 victory, a result that leaves the Rangers 4 1/2 games back. Elvis Andrus went 3-for-4 on Friday and is 8-for-12 over his last three games for Texas, which has dropped five of seven.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Cole Hamels (5-1, 4.01 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (6-8, 6.08)
Hamels escaped with a no-decision against Seattle in his last turn after yielding four runs - three earned - and six hits in six innings. The 33-year-old has allowed 15 runs and 21 hits in 17 1/3 frames over his last three starts as his ERA has soared nearly a whole run from 3.05 to 4.01. Hamels defeated Minnesota on April 26, when he gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings and stands 2-1 with a 6.35 ERA in six career starts against the Twins.
Gibson will be recalled to make the start after a brief exile to the minors upon the team's recent acquisition of Jaime Garcia, who since has been traded to the New York Yankees. "Any time you get sent down, it's never easy, whether you deserve it or not," Gibson told reporters. "So it was tough, but you have to understand and be a professional about it. They have decisions they need to make and, unfortunately, I was the one who had to go." Gibson is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in five career starts against the Rangers but has served up two homers to Mike Napoli in nine at-bats.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins 2B Brian Dozier went 3-for-5 with two solo homers on Friday after enduring a 5-for-37 stretch over his previous eight games.
2. Napoli was 0-for-4 on Friday and is 3-for-27 with 15 strikeouts over his last seven contests.
3. Minnesota 1B Joe Mauer, who is 0-for-12 versus Hamels, is hitless in five at-bats in the series and remains tied with Tony Oliva (1,917) for the third-most hits in franchise history.