Hicks could land on DL with sore right elbow

ARLINGTON -- Center fielder Aaron Hicks was scratched from Saturday's lineup with a sore right elbow after feeling discomfort in his throwing elbow while swinging in the batting cage before the game.

Hicks was replaced in center by Shane Robinson, who batted ninth in the lineup and went 2-for-4 with two runs in Minnesota's 11-7 loss to the Rangers. Twins manager Paul Molitor said Hicks met with a doctor, who said it wasn't related to a ligament or anything serious, but that he's still unable to swing a bat. The Twins will reevaluate Hicks before Sunday's game, as there's a chance he's placed on the 15-day disabled list to make room for top prospect Byron Buxton, who is getting called up from Double-A Chattanooga.

"It didn't go well swinging left-handed or right-handed," Molitor said. "I think it's muscular and not ligament or tendon. It's enough to where he wasn't able to do much of anything, even hitting off a tee today. So it doesn't bode well in the short term, but they're going to try to get that calmed down as quickly as they can."

It left the Twins with a short bench, as right fielder Torii Hunter also opted to drop his appeal and began serving his two-game suspension on Saturday. Hunter was also in the original lineup, hitting fifth and starting in right field. Eddie Rosario started in right field with Eduardo Escobar starting in left, and Eduardo Nunez at shortstop. It left the Twins with Kurt Suzuki as their only healthy bench player.