Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys
We all know of amazing Cisco has been this year. He's one of the best starters in the American League, deserves more than cursory consideration for the Cy Young, and some people still don't consider him an ace because he has mediocre games once in a while. But here at Twinkie Town, we pride ourselves on being well-informed...and we know how friggin great he's been.
Tonight, however, the odds insist he'll have to do most of the heavy lifting on his own. Jim Thome was originally in the starting lineup but has been scratched, but it looks like J.J. Hardy is going to gut through the pain. Still, the offense is missing a lot of big guns.
Speaking of guys having great years, here's another one. Good fastball in the low to mid 90s, a great slider and an equally as impressive changeup make up his arsenal, and it will be interesting to see if he continues to be exclusively fastball-changeup against left-handed hitters.
If the Twins want to beat the Tigers, the B-Squad will have to get a little something off the young Detroit hurler.
Tigers
Jackson, CF
Rhymes, 2B
Wells, LF
Cabrera, 1B
Peralta, DH
Ingle, 3B
Santiago, SS
Boesch, RF
Laird, C
Twins
Span, CF
Casilla, 2B
Mauer, C
Cuddyer, 1B
Young, LF
Morales, DH
Valencia, 3B
Repko, RF
Hardy, SS