KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While much of Florida is evacuating, James Rowson left the Twins today and headed into Hurricane Irma's path.
The Twins' hitting coach's wife, three children, parents and sister all live in the Tampa area, and Rowson decided he couldn't allow them to ride out the impending storm without him, general manager Thad Levine said Friday at Kauffman Stadium. "We are of course extremely supportive of guys doing whatever they need to do to keep everyone safe in an emergency like this," Levine said. Rowson plans to rejoin the team next week at Target Field, but that naturally depends upon the damage that Florida sustains this weekend.
First base coach Jeff Smith also is planning for a stressful weekend, though he's planning to remain with the team for now. His wife Ronna and two sons are living at Corkscrew Middle School in Naples, where Ronna Smith is principal and this weekend is supervising the building as a place of refuge for residents who choose to remain as Irma hits.
"It's going to be a long weekend, but they're in a safe place," Smith said. "As long as the communication remains, it'll be all right."
Meanwhile, the Twins will try to remain focused on the pennant race, with Ervin Santana on the mound tonight. Santana will be facing Ian Kennedy, the veteran righthander who started Kansas City's 5-4 win at Target Field last week.
Molitor has chosen to stick with the same lineup he used on Tuesday and Thursday last night. "I like how it looks against a righthander," Molitor said about the lineup. "I like how it breaks up the left-handers," which is important once the Royals turn to their bullpen. Thanks to three switch-hitters, against a righthander, seven Twins will bat left-handed; but if a left-handed reliever is called upon, the batting order alternates right-left-right, etc., all the way down.
Joe West will be behind the plate tonight, and both starters have had good luck against him. Kennedy owns a 3.29 ERA in seven career starts in front of West, while Santana is 4-1 with a 2.76 ERA in seven starts.
Here are the lineups for Game 2 of this four-game series:
