MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins slugger Miguel Sano will miss his second straight game on Sunday when Minnesota faces the Reds. Sano is battling tightness in his left hamstring, and Eduardo Escobar will start in his place at third base and bat cleanup. Escobar went 2-for-4 at the plate in an 8-2 Twins loss.
"Just talking with Tony Leo, our head trainer, he said [Sano] is doing a little bit better," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It's one of those things where its risk vs. reward. We think another day will probably be helpful. Just gonna minimize what he does and make sure we don't give that thing a chance to worsen and then lose him for a longer period of time."
Molitor said that Sano could be available to pinch hit during Sunday's game.
The 2017 American League All-Star is hitting .213 with a team-best five home runs in 20 games this season. Escobar, who has split time at third and shortstop this year, is hitting .300 with three homers and leads the Twins with 10 doubles.

"It's a nice ingredient to have on your team," Molitor said of Escobar, who has spent much of the season filling in for Jorge Polanco at shortstop. "It's a little bit of an awkward circumstance, you know, when you lose your regular shortstop. You kind of are rotating those guys out of position and Esco has had to play some third at times, as well as short. But, there's a lot of value for guys who can go out there and play those positions, and then you talk about the personality aspect and how he can make it colorful around here. It's good to have a guy like that who can break some of the tension up."
Buxton progressing
Byron Buxton is continuing to work his way back from a hairline fracture on the big toe of his left foot. Molitor said the team would attempt to get him moving on Sunday and test the injury.
"We're talking about having him go out there and doing some light running just to see where we're at," Molitor said. "We're gonna have to measure some things by activity. For the most part, though, the weekend has been pretty quiet activity-wise. If he has a good day today, we'll consider getting him back doing some hitting and things over the next couple days. We'll probably have a better feel by the time we leave on Wednesday."