Byron Buxton out of Twins' lineup Thursday, but X-rays were negative

Twins All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton is, perhaps unsurprisingly, out of the lineup for Thursday afternoon's series finale against the Cubs. Buxton left Wednesday night's game an inning after being hit by a 98 mile-per-hour fastball on the top of his left hand. The good news is he appears to have avoided a significant injury.

The Twins announced that Buxton has a left hand contusion. X-rays were reportedly negative for any sort of fracture, and he's considered "day to day" moving forward.

"It looks like he's going to be OK," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He had some imaging done and it came back all right. He was pretty sore, though, so we'll see."

Leading off the bottom of the first inning, Buxton was hit by an 0-2 heater from Cubs starter Cade Horton that ran high and tight. Fortunately, he wears a pad on his left hand for that exact reason. Buxton stayed in the game, stole his 17th base of the year, scored a run, and played one more inning defensively, but he was lifted for pinch hitter Brooks Lee in the bottom of the second.

The hope is that this will be a similar situation to the one that occurred a little less than a month ago. On June 14, Buxton was hit on the left elbow and, very similarly, recorded a stolen base and one more inning in center field before being taken out. He missed the following game but was back in the lineup after an ensuing off day.

Ideally, Buxton's hand will feel good enough that he's able to return to the lineup for Friday night's marquee pitching matchup between Joe Ryan and Pirates ace Paul Skenes at Target Field.

The Twins are looking to complete a sweep of the Cubs for the first time since 2006 on Thursday. Chris Paddack (4.64 ERA) is set to pitch against Colin Rea (4.13). Harrison Bader will play center field, with Willi Castro in left. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. CT.