Here are three thoughts from LEN3 following the Twins' 10-5 loss to Houston:
BUXTON INJURY: Byron Buxton felt soreness in his left groin muscle as he scored from first on Brian Dozier's double in the fourth inning. He remained in the game, but pulled up awkwardly into second base in sixth after his double to left. He's considered day-to-day. Zack Granite fans will be excited that he could see some action with Buxton down, but take note. Buxton was 1-for-2 on Friday and is batting .476 over his last six games. And no one plays defense like him. His 17 defensive runs saved are the best of any center fielder in baseball. He's having some success with his new approach at the plate and the Twins want to see how he runs with it.
VARGAS INJURY: "I can play with this," Kennys Vargas said of the left foot contusion that knocked him out of the game in the seventh inning. Vargas initially fouled a ball off the foot during spring training then again about two weeks ago while at Class AAA Rochester. The Twins had precautionary X-Rays taken after the game, which they expect to be negative. But they still might place him on the DL and activate Joe Mauer.
ABOUT THE GAME: Fans on twitter wanted Jorge Polanco drawn and quartered after his error in the second inning helped fuel an eight-run bust by Houston. Polanco has committed six errors over his last 18 games, so that is concerning. But Jose Berrios could have made a pitch to get out of the inning. He threw first pitch strikes to just TWO of the 13 batters he faced...for as bad as the game started the Twins could have gotten back in this one. Brian Dozier hit bases-clearing triple in the fourth inning. The Twins loaded the bases again in the fifth, getting just a sacrifice fly. They loaded the bases AGAIN in the sixth, but failed to score. And the Twins entered Friday fifth in the league in batting average with the bases loaded. They could have made things interesting. They drew nine walks, for goodness sakes.
