Twins manager Paul Molitor has trotted out his right-handed hitters against Sox ace lefty Chris Sale.
Joe Mauer is batting .338 against lefties - but is not in the lineup.
``I'm taking a big picture approach with Joe,'' Molitor said, later adding that Mauer will be in the lineup tomorrow.
Mauer is batting .296 against Sale and .391 against Jose Quintana, tomorrow's starter.
Mauer insisted before the game that he's fine.
``I told (Molitor) that I was ready to play,'' he said.
Mauer is available to pinch hit and expects to play tomorrow. It just seems strange that this is happening during a week with two scheduled off days.
First pitch probably won't be until 3:25, because the White Sox will retire Paul Konerko's No. 14 before the game. That will give you time to throw another burger on the grill.
Twins
Brian Dozier, 2B
Shane Robinson,. LF
Trevor Plouffe, 1B
Torii Hunter, RF
Kurt Suzuki, C
Eduardo Escobar, 3B
Eduardo Nunez, DH
Aaron Hicks, CF
Danny Santana. SS
Trevor May, RHP
White Sox
Adam Eaton, CF
Melky Cabrera, LF
Jose Abreu, 1B
Adam LaRoche, DH
Conor Gillaspie, 3B
Alexei Ramirez, SS
J.B. Shuck, RF
Tyler Flowers, C
Carlos Sanchez, 2B
Chris Sale, LHP
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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