Early Monday, Twins manager Paul Molitor was hopeful — maybe even optimistic — about having slugger Miguel Sano available to face the Yankees in the wild-card game at Yankee Stadium.
“I was,” Molitor admitted.
Then Sano went into the batting cages at the Stadium. Hope and optimism vanished fairly quickly.
Sano, who spent more than a month on the disabled list because of a left shin stress reaction before returning for the final weekend series of the regular season, was left off the Twins roster for Tuesday’s one-game showdown in The Bronx.
“Miguel did everything he could to try to get himself ready,” Molitor said in explaining his decision to leave his second-best home-run hitter off the roster.