Twins at Indians: News and Notes

It's a three-game series for the Twins, the beginning of a five-game roadtrip following a 6-3 homestand.

By Jon Marthaler Jun 21, 2013, 12:00pm EDT

Here is the weirdest thing about Cleveland: the Indians are above .500, second in the AL Central - and they are second-to-last in the majors in attendance. The Marlins are blatantly lying about their attendance, of course - 17,330 a game? Who are they kidding? - but the Indians are down below noted attendance sinks Houston and Tampa Bay. Has Cleveland just given up on all sports now? (Given Cleveland sports history, I would not blame them.)
Closer Chris Perez is still getting things together in the minors, according to this delightful AP story that refers to Perez's "personal issues", by which they mean "having pot mailed to your house under your dog's name."
This week's Lonnie Chisenhall Update: Lonnie is not only back in the majors, but "Lonnie Chisenhall" still sounds like the guy who's always on the fourth stool at the VFW, and keeps on telling a story about how he had a chance to sign with the Cardinals out of high school but he hurt his arm, but your dad told you that he pitched for the town team a couple of times but then hurt his arm when he fell off a four-wheeler. This has been your Lonnie Chisenhall Update.
Nick Swisher had a cortisone shot in his shoulder, and could return tonight. He's been struggling in June - .125/.250/.125 in 48 plate appearances, which is terrible - so perhaps Cleveland will tell him to take all the time he needs.

Thursday, the Twins' 7-8-9 hitters in the batting order all hit home runs. The last time that happened, it was 2004 and the hitters were Michael Restovich, Luis Rivas, and Henry "Mango Face" Blanco. Also, we should remind you that when the Twins released Restovich at the end of spring training in .2005, he had a career line of .274 / .364 / .442 in 61 career major-league games; I find it hard to believe they'd release a guy with an .807 OPS these days.
Aaron Hicks is just about ready to go again, and the Twins will likely send him on a rehab assignment next week. If that assignment is at Rochester, it'll be the first games he's ever played in a Red Wings uniform, which makes us wonder - what if he goes 0-12 or something like that?
Kyle Gibson has thrown six quality starts in his last seven tries for Rochester, has a 2.18 ERA in that span, and has held opponents to a batting average under .200. Thursday, he went seven innings against Scranton, allowing five hits and zero earned runs, and striking out six. In other words, Kyle Gibson is the new Anthony Slama.

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