Twins’ Plouffe has concussion, on 7-day DL

ATLANTA (AP) - The Minnesota Twins placed third baseman Trevor Plouffe on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion Wednesday after he was struck in the head by Dan Uggla’s shin while breaking up an attempted double play.

Plouffe was injured in the 10th inning of Tuesday night’s 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

He slammed into Uggla’s leg sliding into second base and remained down for a few minutes before walking slowly to the dugout, holding his head.

During an examination for concussion-related symptoms, Plouffe showed sensitivity to light. He said he was “feeling better” a day later, but Twins weren’t taking any chances.

“He took a good shot in the head. That’s what this rule is for, to protect the player,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Give him a little bit of a break here and do what’s right. He was a little woozy and that’s why there was concern.”

The Twins will wait a couple of days before giving Plouffe a concussion impact test. In the meantime, Minnesota purchased the contract of Chris Colabello from Triple-A Rochester and started him in right field for Wednesday’s series finale against the Braves. Eduardo Escobar started at third base.

In 2012, Plouffe had a breakout season with 24 homers and 55 RBIs. This year, the 26-year-old is hitting .254 with four homers and 17 RBIs.

The 30-year-old Colabello leads the International League in home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.659). He’s second in RBIs (39) and third in average (.358).

“He’s been hitting it, absolutely hitting it out there,” Gardenhire said. “We’ll see what he’s got. A left-hander on the mound (Atlanta’s Paul Maholm), a good time for a right-hander to be out there. That’s what we brought him up here for, to be a right-handed bat. Go get `em.”

Maybe Colabello can bolster an anemic offense. The Twins have scored just 19 runs during a season-high seven-game losing streak.

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Associated Press freelance writer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd contributed to this report.

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