HOUSTON — The Twins placed center fielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day injured list Tuesday before starting a three-game series against the Astros.
Aaron Sanchez is up from St. Paul to start Game 1 of the series, and catcher Caleb Hamilton has also been recalled. The Twins transferred Alex Kirilloff to the 60-day injured list and optioned pitcher Devin Smeltzer to the Saints.
Buxton left Monday's loss to the Rangers at Target Field because of right hip tightness. The Twins lost three in a row at home to Texas, costing them a chance to get back into first place in the American League Central, and trail the Guardians by two games.
Now comes a difficult task — over the next three days, the Twins will go against three of the league's winningest pitchers in Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia.
Verlander, the 39-year-old former MVP and Cy Young Award winner, is first up. He's heading toward another Cy Young with a 15-3 record and a 1.95 ERA. He leads the majors in victories and ERA.
The Twins will counter tonight (7:10 p.m., BSN) with Sanchez. The 30-year-old righthander has started one game for the Twins this season, going five innings in a no-decision contest Aug. 1 against Detroit.
Sanchez started seven games for the Nationals, going 3-3 with an 8.33 ERA, before they designated him for assignment or release. He was 3-2 for the Saints in 10 starts with a 3.80 ERA and 1.225 WHIP.
Cleveland is starting a series in San Diego and third-place Chicago, a game behind the second-place Twins, is in Baltimore.
Carlos Correa will face his former team for the first time as a Twins shortstop ... he missed the teams' series earlier this season at Target Field because of a finger injury.
TWINS LINEUP
Luis Arraez, 1B
Carlos Correa, SS
Jorge Polanco, 2B
Jose Miranda, DH
Nick Gordon, CF
Max Kepler, RF
Gio Urshela, 3B
Jake Cave, LF
Gary Sanchez, C
ASTROS LINEUP
Jose Altuve, 2B
Yuli Gurriel, 1B
Yordan Alvarez, LF
Alex Bregman, 3B
Kyle Tucker, RF
Trey Mancini, DH
Jeremy Pena, SS
Mauricio Dubon, CF
Martin Maldonado, C