MINNEAPOLIS -- No Paul Konerko? No problem.
White Sox manager Robin Ventura has a little flexibility these days with Kevin Youkilis on his roster.
Even though Konerko sat out Wednesday for routine maintenance, Ventura didnt have to think hard to find an able replacement. He simply slid Youkilis from third base over to first base and place him in the third spot in the lineup, dropping Adam Dunn to cleanup.
Eduardo Escobar is hitting second in the series finale against the Minnesota Twins and play third.
I think today is just a good day to play with that and have Youk bat third and more of a prototypical second hitter with Escobar and move it around a bit, Ventura said. Move (Dunn) to fourth. More of you look at who youre playing that day and see how that roster that day fits. That looked like the best lineup to me.
Konerko isnt the only regular out of the lineup.
Ventura is also giving Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo the afternoon off. Jordan Danks is playing in left and hitting eighth while Orlando Hudson will hit ninth and play second base.
MLB
Its for the long haul, Ventura said. A 12 oclock start for some of them. There are guys who got to play. This is a good time. We got these days games like this. It gets these guys in there who have been on the bench for a little bit and give them energy and move them around a bit.