Santana held out of lineup with cut above eye

NEW YORK -- Danny Santana was held out of the Twins' lineup on Saturday after suffering a laceration above his left eye that required seven stitches during Friday's 6-1 win against the Yankees.

Santana was cut while stealing third base in the third inning, as his own helmet came off while sliding headfirst and cut him above the eye. Santana's eye was swollen on Saturday, leading Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to start Aaron Hicks in center field instead.

"He's got a little swelling in his eye," Gardenhire said. "The trainers say he feels fine, but we don't want to take a chance with seven stitches in his eye. We're not going to take a chance with that, so we'll give him a day."

Gardenhire remains hopeful Santana could be ready to play by Sunday, but said he's going to be cautious and listen to the trainers because he doesn't want to play Santana if his vision is affected by the injury.

"I know he's going to say he's fine because that's the mentality of most players, but we have to be guarded here," Gardenhire said. "It was a nasty cut and a dangerous situation. So I'll do what the trainers tell me."