Twins' Marwin Gonzalez has abdominal strain

Marwin Gonzalez left Tuesday's game after the seventh inning with what the Twins are describing as a slight abdominal strain. Max Kepler batted for him in the eighth.

"It's abdominal, I would call it abdominal, maybe possibly oblique area but he was moving around OK," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "The tests came back as showing, I don't know if it's the best way to describe it, but something probably small. Not something that we would consider major but something that we're going to have to look after and get checked out."

Gonzalez said the discomfort is located on his right side and popped earlier in the day.

"Yeah, yeah. I started feeling it during batting practice today and didn't want to get out of the lineup, but I think it was getting a little worse during the game," Gonzalez said. "So I got out just to make sure it doesn't get worse and try to get back out as soon as possible."

The Twins will be careful with this one, but they feel it's nothing more than a little hot spot that will calm down soon. Still. Gonzalez, who hit his 15th homer of the season in the second inning, is a key cog and is one of the most versatile players in the game. And, with Byron Buxton out, they would be low on outfielders if Gonzalez is out of the lineup for an extended period of time.

Gonzalez's switch-hitting helps balance out the lineup. If he needs a few games off, Baldelli will be limited in how he crafts a lineup. He'll likely have to field an all-lefty outfield of Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Jake Cave against a lefty starter for the White Sox.