As of this writing, it's 108 degrees in Arlington. Oppressive. Somehow, I ended up with the trips to Baltimore, Kansas City, St. Pete and Arlington this year. Joe C. and I are going to have a talk about future scheduling.

  • Ron Mahay's season is in jeopardy. An MRI exam today revealed a torn right rotator cuff. While it's not his pitching shoulder, he still might need surgery and would be in danger of missing the rest of the season. The Twins re determining their next course of action with Mahay. We're all a little stunned by this because it didn't look like he landed that hard when he flopped after a squibber hit near the mound.
  • Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said the goal for Nick Blackburn was to go to Rochester and, ``find his sinker." After going 1-0 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts, he'll get to show Gardenhire what he's found as the Twins kick off a big series here.
  • Righthander Kevin Slowey's MRI revealed just a mild muscle strain. But the Twins will be very careful with how Slowey recovers from the injury.

Finally, I'm not sure how many followers of this blog follow me on twitter (@LaVelleNeal), but there was an interesting exchange after the game between me and a guy with the handle @mcuddy5.

David Brauer was all over the social media showdown (laying it on a little thick here) and writes about it here.

Twins (72-52)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Hudson, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Jason Kubel. RF
5. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
6. Jim Thome, DH
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Danny Valencia, 3B
9. J.J. Hardy, SS

Pitching: Nick Blackburn

Rangers (69-54)

1. Elvis Andrus, SS
2. Michael Young, 3B
3. Josh Hamilton, LF
4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH
5. David Murphy, RF
6. Matt Treanor, C
7. Mitch Moreland, 1B
8. Andres Blanco, 2B
9. Julio Borbon, CF

Pitching: Rich Harden