UPDATE: After a steady drizzle all afternoon (except for a one-hour clearing around 12:30), the Twins will play today's game after all. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. before what appears to be a sparse remaining crowd.
All fans, even those who are here to watch the game, can exchange Thursday's tickets for any game after Aug. 28, the Twins have announced.
It's raining, it's pouring, waiting out rain delays is boring.
But that's the status at Target Field, where at 12:10 p.m. start for the Twins-White Sox finale appears all but impossible. The storm began around 10 a.m., and there is standing watcher on the warning tracks now. But the forecast shows the rain passing in a couple of hours, and Twin officials — though there's no official word yet — seem optimistic that they won't have to declare the third home rainout of the season.
Nik Turley has to hope so, because it's unlikely, after an off day earlier this week, that Paul Molitor would move his rotation back a day, since that would mean Ervin Santana would miss facing the Indians on Sunday. Turley would likely be skipped, and given Hector Santiago's likely return next week in Boston, the left-handed rookie's status might be in doubt.
Given that the Twins have two doubleheaders already scheduled, including one in Chicago in August, it's also likely that they will be willing to wait out the rain, just to keep the schedule from backing up even more.
Speaking of Santiago, he'll meet the Twins in Cleveland tonight, though he probably won't be activated until they get to Boston next week. Molitor seemed satisfied with his rehab start yesterday, though it lasted only three innings (and 57 pitches), but isn't ready to slot him into one of those four games in Fenway Park just yet.
Once we play, the Twins will use Miguel Sano as their designated hitter for a second straight day, with Eduardo Escobar — his batting average now .300 — playing third base and batting fifth.
