Miguel Sano, down at Class A Fort Myers to rediscover himself, was 2-for-4 with with a single, a double, two runs scored, one walk and no strikeouts on Monday.
On Tuesday, he was not in the lineup.
And that is all according to plan, as the Twins intend to hold Sano out of games from time to time for extra work.
"We're monitoring it fairly closely," Molitor said. "I know about the workouts he's had. I know about his performance last night. It's not etched in stone, the day to day stuff, in terms of what days he's going to play and what days he's going to back off and that kind of stuff.
"We tried to be very mindful of how we were going to put it together, in a general sense. We just have to carry it out."
The return of Nunez
Red Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez was back in familliar surroundings on Tuesday, a place where he came into his own as a player, earning a spot on the 2016 All-Star team. A place where his helmet flew off so much as he ran the bases that it became a running gag.
"I enjoyed my time here, every game I played here," Nunez said. "The fans were unbelievable. I always say it was one of my best times, in Minnesota."
Nunez was dealt to the Twins before the 2014 season from the Yankees in exchange for righthander Miguel Sulbaran. He hit .280 in 235 games with the Twins before he was dealt to San Francisco before the 2016 trade deadline for lefthander Aldaberto Mejia. The Giants sent him to the Red Sox at the trade deadline last year, and hit .321 for Boston before suffering a sprained right knee late in the second and reaggravating it twice.
So far he has not found his hitting stroke, batting just 247 in 63 games. He said he's been compensating for the knee, but it is feeling stronger and he's optimistic he'll regain his form.
Etc.
The Twins aren't very concerned about the soreness righthander Trevor May is experiencing at Class AAA Rochester May came down with the problem after appearing in seven games, three of them starts, for the Red Wings. "Just general soreness," Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey said.
Ervin Santana threw 35 pitches during a bullpen session on Monday and will face hitters on Friday. Molitor said he threw his full repetoire of stuff, including sliders.
Sale is here
The Twins have had their highs and lows against Chris Sale through the years. There was a stretch in which Sale dropped five of six decisions against the Twins toward the end of his career with the White Sox.
Things have changed since he's joined Boston.
He's won his two starts against the Twins since being traded there, giving up five earned runs over 12.1 innings while striking out 19. And he's on the mound tonight as the team kick off a three game series. For the Twins, they are running through a trilogy of Cy Young terror. David Price and Rick Porcello are former winners - and Sale is good enough to win one, so I'm throwing him in the mix So the Twins will have to pack a lunch this week if they want to come out on top.
The first two games of this series will test Paul Molitor's lineup creativity. Notice the Logan Morrison, despite being 5-for-15 against Sale, is not starting tonight.
Will check back later with any updates.
Red Sox
Mookie Betts, RF
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
J.D. Martinez, DH
Mitch Moreland, 1B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Sandy Leon, C
Jackie Bradley, Jr., CF
Chris Sale, LHP
Twins
Joe Mauer, 1B
Eddie Rosario, LF
Eduardo Escobar, 3B
Brian Dozier, 2B
Robbie Grossman, DH
Ehrie Adrianza, SS
Taylor Motter, RF
Mitch Garver, C
Ryan LaMarre, CF
Jose Berrios, RHP