The Twins have announced that tonight's game has beem postphone because of rain. The teams will make up the game on July 28.

Rain, soometimes heavy, fell upon Target Field throughout the afternoon and early evening. The Twins hoped to get the game in, but the radar was not cooperating.

The rainout delayed the debut of Joe Mauer as the leadoff hitter.

Mauer said he has told manager Paul Molitor in the past that he's fine wherever Molitor wants to bat him in the lineup.

``I told Paul a long time ago that whatever gives us the best chance to win and score some runs I'm all for it," Mauer said.

It has finally happened. Mauer is starting a game in the leadoff spot for the first in his career, as Molitor looks to get the Twins offense going. Mauer is batting.299 overall with a .420 on base percentage that leads the American League. That fits the profile of a leadoff hitter.

``We all know Joe has been doing that extremely well," Molitor said of Mauer getting on base. ``You can make the augment that Joe is our best one-hitter, two-hitter and three-hitter. We've tried two and three and now we are going to try one."

Eduardo Nunez, who has been productive at the plate, is batting second. The one area that might cause head-scratching is Brian Dozier batting third and Trevor Plouffe batting fourth Dozier is recovering from a hamstring injury. And Plouffe grabbed his right side a few times during the White Sox series - his first games since coming off the DL because of a muscle strain in the area.

Miguel Sano, Byung Ho Park and Oswaldo Arcia follow, and it could be argued that the three are the most dangerous hitters in the lineup right now and should be higher. In my option, Sano should always bat third or fourth. He strikes out a lot but he also draws walks and LEADS the majors in line drive percentage. He's a third or fourth place hitter. Mauer, by the way, is ninth in the majors in line drive percentage.

But, hey, I'm not a manager. Molitor, at least, is trying something new.

Dozier is back in the lineup after missing three starts because of the sore right hamstring. He's not 100 percent and has talked with Molitor, who has pulled a few hammys in the past, about how to play smartly with the injury. That led to the question: Did Molitor keep Dozier out of the leadoff spot because of the hamstring?

``It was part of the mix in that I don't know if the 3-hole is going to help him not have to do as much offensively on the bases or not," Molitor said, ``but it certainly didn't hurt as far as moving him down."

Lefthander Ryan O'Rourke has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Class AAA Rochester. Still no word on the fate of righthander J.R. Graham who, like O'Rourke, was designated for assignment on Friday. He throws hard, so that could make him attractive to a team looking for bullpen help.

O'Rourke will arrive at Rochester on Tuesday.

Lefthander Tommy Milone, placed on outright waivers last week, has arrived at Rochester.

Orioles

Joey Rickard, LF
Manny Machado, SS
Adam Jones, CF
Chris Davis, 1B
Mark Trumbo, RF
Matt Wieters, C
Pedro Alvarez, DH
Jonathan Schoop, 2B
Ryan Flaherty, 3B

Tyler Wilson, RHP

Twins

Joe Mauer, 1B
Eduardo Nunez, SS
Brian Dozier, 2B
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Miguel Sano, RF
Byung Ho Park, DH
Oswaldo Arcia, LF
Kurt Suzuki, C
Danny Santana, CF

Jose Berrios, RHP