Big crowd of partying Minnesotans on hand for Berrios-Arrieta matchup

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — I’m told the gates to the Hammond Stadium parking lot opened at 6 a.m. this morning, so there’s a real Vikings pregame going on out there now. It’s Minnesota Day at the ballpark, a tailgate event that just gets bigger every year. I suspect trading snowed-under weather for today’s 80 degrees makes the gathering even more raucous than usual.

    (Shout out to my fellow Afton residents, holding a small but boisterous party near Field 6.)

    When all those Twins fans make their way inside, they’ll get to witness, however briefly, an Opening Day-quality pitching matchup between Jose Berrios and Jake Arrieta. Neither is likely to pitch more than three innings, but it’s unusual for a pitcher of Arrieta’s stature, a former Cy Young winner, to make such a long bus ride — the Phillies train in Clearwater, about two and a half hours away — this early in camp.

    OK, Bryce Harper didn’t make the trip, but Philadelphia’s lineup includes a couple of starters, too, in first baseman Rhys Hoskins and catcher J.T. Realmuto, while the Twins are playing eight projected regulars. Most of them will be out of the game after five innings, but this is a lot of major-league regulars for a Grapefruit League game. Former Twin Shane Robinson is in the lineup, too.

    The game will be televised on Fox Sports North, using a simulcast with WCCO Radio that features Marney Gellner on play-by-play.

    It’s also the Twins’ second split-squad day of the spring, so half the clubhouse boarded buses a few minutes ago, headed up Daniels Parkway to jetBlue Stadium, where they will face the Red Sox. Stephen Gonsalves will start that game, and Willians Astudillo, a day after his first spring home run, will bat third and catch Gonsalves.

    Here are the lineups for today’s games:

PHILLIES

 

Kingery 3B

Realmuto C

Williams RF

Hoskins 1B

Cozens LF

Haseley CF

Robinson DH

Gosselin 2B

Romine SS

 

Arrieta RHP

 

TWINS

 

Kepler RF

Polanco SS

Gonzalez 3B

Rosario LF

Cron 1B

Schoop 2B

Duda DH

Buxton CF

Castro C

 

Berrios RHP

 

XXX

 

TWINS

 

Adrianza 3B

Cave CF

Astudillo C

Kirilloff DH

Austin 1B

Torreyes SS

Wade LF

Rosales 2B

Raley RF

 

Gonsalves LHP

 

RED SOX

 

Benintendi LF

Betts RF

Moreland DH

Bogaerts SS

Bradley CF

Nunez 3B

Holt 2B

Leon C

Chavis 1B

 

Hernandez LHP