No time to talk today, but the first series with interleague rival Milwaukee starts tongiht. The Twins put that masive 20 spot up on the White Sox last night after shifting the lineup order up, but even after that, Gardenhire said this:
Manager Ron Gardenhire said he'll "try it again [tonight] and see what happens," but he prefers Mauer batting third.
"I would really like to have a guy [in the two-spot] that handles the bat -- a guy that can bunt, a guy that can run, all those things," Gardenhire said. "That's the way it's supposed to be in the lineup.
I always thought "hitting well" was preferable to "handling the bat," but hey, I'm not a major league manager.
Looks like Gardenhire's biting the bullet and going with Mauer, who apparently can't "handle the bat well," or whatever, second again.
This is a very top heavy lineup for the Twins though. You've got Span setting the table with his high OBP, the Mauer and Morneau both with OPS's over 1.000, then Cuddyer with an OPS right at .900, then Jrede and Harris right about .700 each, then Gomez, TOlbert, and Punto around .500. The top needs to be good everyday to score much like this.
I ate a Bratwurst today, was that an unintentional act of cheering for the Brewers? Oh God...
GO TWINS!