CHICAGO — Lots of teams change their pitching rosters between games of a doubleheader. The Twins plan to change their catching roster.
Mitch Garver took batting practice with his teammates an hour before the scheduled 4:10 p.m. first pitch of Game 1 and pronounced himself ready to play. Well, as ready as you can be after four days of rehab games; the difference between Triple-A and major-league pitching, he said, is the biggest in professional ball, so it's hard to get your timing as good as it can be.
Still, the Twins plan to activate him for Game 2, when he will catch Jose Berrios, who hopes to continue what has been his strongest season yet. The White Sox plan to add Reynaldo Lopez as their 27th man for that game, the 11th time that the veteran righthander has faced the Twins in his career. Lopez is 1-6 with a 6.29 ERA in those previous 10 starts, while Berrios is 12-3 with a 2.69 ERA in 19 career starts against the White Sox.
In Game 1, it's 27th man Griffin Jax serving as the 27th man and making his second career start. He's facing Lance Lynn, whose week thus far has included pitching in the All-Star Game and signing a two-year contract extension.
Game 2 will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both are scheduled for seven innings. It's the second doubleheader in three days for the Twins, who were swept by the Tigers on Saturday.
Here are the lineups for Game 1:
TWINS
Arraez 2B
Donaldson 3B
Larnach LF
Cruz DH
Polanco SS
Kepler RF
Sanó 1B
Gordon CF
Jeffers C
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Jax RHP
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WHITE SOX
Anderson SS
Moncada DH
Abreu 1B
Goodwin RF
Engel CF
Vaughn LF
Burger 3B
Mendick 2B
Zavala C
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Lynn RHP