It’s mostly sunny and super warm as the Minnesota Twins prepare to wrap up the first half of a home-and-home series with the Milwaukee Brewers. Youngster Adalberto Mejia (4.30 ERA, 4.85 FIP in 83.2 innings) will take the mound for the Twins, while former Twins righty Matt Garza (3.68 ERA, 4.03 FIP in 88 innings) will toe the rubber for the Brewers.

More on that in a bit.

Miguel Sano is back in the lineup after a three-game absence following being hit by a Tony Barnette pitch on Friday night at Target Field. Sano took batting practice with the team on Monday, and is ready to get back in the swing of things by hitting and playing third.

“No question,” Molitor said about the bump to the lineup Sano provides when he’s in the lineup. “We all know his impact on our club when he’s contributing and the things he can do to help us win. I thought his BP yesterday was a little tentative or timid. I think he was trying to feel his way out a little bit. I still thought that in the right situation I might give him a shot if it came up. But today he was out for early work in the 3 o’clock hour and you could see that there was more confidence, and the ball was really coming off his bat.”

Sano will wear a pad on the affected area, but Molitor doesn’t expect much of an adjustment period for the slugging third baseman. “Not too much,” Molitor said. “I’m sure they’ve toyed with it a little bit to make it feel right. It’ll be a bit of a different feel, but obviously your hands are in a position to hit and you just have a little more protection.”

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