The Twins look to recover from a disappointing loss on Thursday against the very good (Devil) Rays while you sit in cabin traffic or buy a trunkload of fireworks.
June did not treat Baker well: 0-5, 6.07 ERA, 8 HRs, 29 2/3 IP. It would behoove him to follow the example set by his fellow struggling starters this week and pitch competently, especially given the competition. Step one, per Parker Baggyman: locate your fastball, sir.
Price had a slightly better June than Baker: 4-1, 2.18 ERA. He is good at pitching.
Starting lineups, and an unsettling clip of the cat-juggling craze that is sweeping our nation, after the jump:
Twins (courtesy LaVelle):
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Hudson, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Danny Valencia, 3B
9. Nick Punto, SS
(Devil) Rays: TBA
Notes:
- The two teams trailing the Twins don't get walkovers this weekend: the Tigers play the disappointing Mariners, but draw Cliff Lee on Sunday, and the White Sox visit AL West-leading Texas.
- As noted this AM, all signs point towards J.J. Hardy returning from oblivion or Beloit to the Twins tomorrow, with Matt Tolbert likely going on the DL to make room for him.
- I'm no expert, but I predict that if the Twins get Carl Crawford out more than once tonight, they'll have a better chance to win.
- Per Tom Pelissero and LEN3, the Twins locker room was going fairly nuts over this afternoon's World Cup game between Uruguay and Ghana, with vuvuzelas being blown and both Mauer and Morneau allegedly wearing "I Heart Uruguay" shirts. Unless professional baseball players are closet World Cup fanatics like TwinkieTown's Jon Marthaler, I'm going to speculate that some sort of office pool is in play. Office pools are just the best.
Enjoy the game, everybody.