Tonight's Anthem: "Panic," the Smiths
Yes, the starting pitching has been sketchy and the health issues are troubling. But enough about the Yankees, the Twins have their own issues. (See what I did there? STOP WORRYING. THE PLAYOFFS START IN FIVE DAYS, IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME.)
Pavano is 0-1 with a 10.45 ERA in two starts vs. Toronto this year. So, yes, it's conceivable there might be a few runs scored again tonight.
After he ended his wildly successful sitcom, many wondered what Ricky Romero would do for an encore, and a solid season toeing the rubber for the Blue J---I'm sorry, I've been told that I'm thinking of Ray Romano. Twinkie Town regrets the error. That said, Debra was a real hard-ass.
Notes and starting lineups (featuring the return of a very special masher of taters) for the last Friday of the regular season are after the jump:
Lineups (courtesy MLB.com's Kelly Thesier):
Twins:
1. Span CF
2. Hardy SS
3. Mauer C
4. Young LF
5. Thome DH
6. Cuddles 1B
7. Kubel RF
8. Valencia 3B
9. LNP 2B
Blue Jays: TBA
Notes:
- Jon Rauch is out for this weekend and questionable for the ALDS after having fluid drained from his left knee and a cortisone shot.
- Home Field Watch: Yankees play Boston at 6:00, Rays play KC at 7:00. Twins are a game back of both, and two games back if you figure in the head-to-head tiebreaker.
- Barring injury, the Twins will defeat the Yankees or Rays in the first round of the playoffs. We'll see how smart that take looks one week from today.
Enjoy the game, everybody.