Miguel Sano headed to disabled list because of stress reaction in left tibia

The Twins will try to extend their winning streak without Miguel Sano, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday because of a stress reaction in his left tibia.

Sano said he initially injured himself Friday when he fouled a ball off his shin during the 10-3 victory over the Diamondbacks.

"From then on it started bothering me and it just went on from there," Sano said.

Sano, who homered in his last two at-bats Friday, will remain in the Twin Cities for treatment while the club heads to Chicago and Toronto on an eight-game road trip.

The injury sounds worse than it usually is. A stress reaction in a weakening of the bone and can be a precursor to a stress fracture. But the area can be treated with a bone stimulator, which will be used in this case as well.

In one of the more well-known stress reaction cases in this area, Joe Mauer was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his fibula late in spring training in 2007. Mauer missed about a week and a half of camp but still was in the lineup on Opening Day.

"I really don't know how it is going to proceed," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I think given the situation, dealing with the information that was passed on from our staff, was that they are concerned enough to feel that they need to get him off of his feet for a little bit."

Sano was unsure how long it could him to recover.

"It's a matter of doing what I need to do to come back," he said.

Sano is batting .267 with 28 home runs and 77 RBI. Although the Twins won 12-5 without him on Sunday and face the lowly White Sox in eight of their next 11 games, the offense suffers if Sano is out for any extended period of time. The Twins have won 11 of their past 14 games and hold the second wild card spot in the AL.

"It's hard," Sano said. "This team is contending for the playoffs, so I want to be in the lineup every day and help the team win."

Andy MacPhail's baseball journey has taken him to Minnesota, Chicago, Baltimore and, now, Philadelphia. He has built relationships along the way that mean a lot to him, but his bond with Minnesota will never be broken.

MacPhail on Sunday became the 30th member of the Twins Hall of Fame, highlighting a career that began with him being the architect of World Series winning teams in 1987 and 1991.

"Minnesota is a special chapter of my life," MacPhail said during his speech, "not to be replicated anywhere."

MacPhail, who was the general manager of the Twins from 1986 to '94, was named Sporting News Executive of the Year in 1991.

Many members of his staff from his tenure were on hand for the ceremony, including Terry Ryan, who followed MacPhail as GM, and Bill Smith, who replaced Ryan.

Both benches were warned in the seventh inning after Ryan Pressly, who had just entered the game, threw a pitch inside that nearly hit Arizona's Adam Rosales. Pressly held out his arms in disbelief when home plate umpire John Tumpane issued the warnings. That brought Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo out of his dugout to protest, and he ended up being ejected.

The warning might have come because the Twins Chris Gimenez was hit with a pitch in the previous inning.

Lovullo's ejection meant the Diamondbacks bench coach — Ron Gardenhire — had to manage the rest of the game. So Gardy had to manage against his former team.

• Many of the Twins' top scouts are in town this week for Team USA trials before the U-18 World Cup. Most games are being played at Siebert Field, but games will also be played at Target Field on Thursday and Saturday. Team USA also will play games in St. Paul and Rochester. The World Cup will be held Sept. 1-10 in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

• First baseman Kennys Vargas is expected to be called up from Class AAA Rochester to replace Sano.