Willingham, Arcia arrive, back in lineup

MINNEAPOLIS -- Reinforcements arrived for the Twins on Monday as outfielders Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia both officially rejoined the team and started against the Rangers.

Willingham was activated from the 15-day disabled list, and started in left field and batted fifth. It was his first game since April 6, as he was hit by a fastball on his left wrist that day and was placed on the DL as a result.

Arcia started in right field and hit cleanup in his first start since April 4. He was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right wrist retroactive to April 5, and was activated from the DL on May 14. But he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester upon coming off the DL, as the Twins wanted him to get his swing right and make sure his wrist was fully healed before he returned.

"It's exciting," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You get to see those two big guys in the middle drive a baseball. We struggled on our road trip and didn't swing the bat great. Hopefully these guys can inject a little bit into us. I know Arcia was driving the baseball, and we know Willingham can, too."

Willingham hit .185 (5-for-27) with a homer, two doubles and three RBIs in eight games with Triple-A Rochester on a rehab assignment. His homer came on Saturday, and he went 3-for-11 with a homer and a double in three games over the weekend.

"It's a timing thing," Gardenhire said. "He sat out for six weeks before going out on rehab. But they said he was clicking on the ball and his swing was pretty good. The bat head was in the right place and all that. So we'll see how he swings it up here."

Arcia, meanwhile, fared well at Rochester, hitting .312/.365/.597 with five homers and seven doubles in 22 games. He also hit .353 with four homers and 12 RBIs over his previous nine games since being activated from the DL.

"I'm happy to be back," Arcia said. "I feel 100 percent. I'm glad to be here."