The Minnesota Twins are well on their way to winning their third division title in five years. Losing the first game of a series to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday was not as big of a loss as one that could happen later.

Carlos Correa, a two-time All-Star shortstop, said over the weekend that he has been playing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot even though it hurts. On Monday, the injury got worse in the first inning.

The Twins’ acting manager, Jayce Tingler, didn’t know how bad Correa’s injury was going into the second game of the three-game series on Tuesday. Correa hurt himself while catching a fly ball in short left field.

“On Tuesday, we’ll find out. He must have hurt the foot again,” said Tingler, who was filling in for boss Rocco Baldelli, who was out of the office because his wife had given birth to twins on Sunday. “These things happen with plantar fasciitis, and we’ll see how he feels Tuesday after a little treatment and go from there.”

Correa missed two games last week because of the injury. He said he “felt a small little tweak there in the heel” during the play and that he has “been trying to manage” the plantar fasciitis for a few months.

“I felt the best I have in a long time on Monday. I ran and jumped and jumped and jumped before the game. Correa, who has played in 135 of the team’s 151 games this season, said, “I had a good time in the cage.”

Correa has a career batting average of.272, but this season he is hitting just.230 with 18 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 60 runs.

On Tuesday, Minnesota (79-72), which needs to win five games to win the American League Central, will send out right-hander Kenta Maeda (5-7, 4.50 ERA).

Maeda had one of his best starts of the season last time out. On Thursday, he only let the Chicago White Sox score two runs. They had four hits and one walk. In Minnesota’s 10–2 win, he struck out eight batters. This season, the Twins are 9-10 in games that Maeda has thrown in.

Maeda has pitched against the Reds five times (four times as a starter) and is 2-1 with a 4.62 ERA.Because of injuries and COVID-19, Cincinnati has had trouble putting together a staff for most of the season. Right-hander Fernando Cruz (1-1, 4.05 ERA) will start for them. The Twins have never been played by the rookie.Right-handed pitcher Ben Lively (4-7, 5.22 ERA) is also likely to throw. Lively has made 12 starts this season, but since coming back from the injured list last week, he has only made one rescue appearance.With Monday’s win, rookie right-hander Connor Phillips put the Reds (79-73) back in a tie with the Chicago Cubs (78-72) for the National League’s third and final wild-card spot, half a game ahead of the Miami Marlins (78-73).Phillips started the season in Double-A and was called up from Triple-A in early September to fill a spot in the rotation. This was his third start in the big leagues. In seven innings, Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff’s solo home runs were the only Twins runs. He threw seven strikes and gave up three hits and one walk.It was only the 11th time this season that a Reds starter went the full seven innings, and manager David Bell was very happy about it.”We’ve talked about how important these games are,” said Bell. “That team over there has a lot of hits. It’s a big game. Phillips stays in the game for a long time, which gives our relief a break. It was a great start for our team in so many ways.”