Mauer starting at DH tonight

Joe Mauer is starting at DH today. We'll get Manager Ron Gardenhire's explanation on this later, but here's a quick guess:

With a noon game Wednesday, Mauer was going to catch one of these next two games and DH the other. Let him DH tonight against lefthander Ted Lilly, so Jim Thome can DH on Wednesday against righthander Rubby De La Rosa.

Update: That's exactly the reason Gardenhire gave. Mauer did some more work at first base during batting practice. Asked if he could see putting Mauer at first base Sunday, Manager Ron Gardenhire said no, as he wants to give Mauer plenty of practice.

SIX-GAME SKID

Riding a six-game losing streak, the Twins need Brian Duensing to be a stopper tonight.

This is the third time this year they've had a losing streak of at least six games. Francisco Liriano stopped a six-game skid with a no-hitter against the White Sox on May 3, and it was Liriano again on May 17, pitching seven innings in a 2-1 victory at Seattle to stop a nine-game losing streak.

Duensing, a fellow lefthander, has delivered quality starts in each of his past two outings, going 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA.

YOUNG UPDATE

Delmon Young's MRI exam showed a bone bruise and swelling but no ligament damage in his right ankle. Manager Ron Gardenhire said "15 days [on the DL] ought to be enough." Considering how scary Young's injury looked Saturday, this is good news for the Twins.

Quick fact: Strib intern Alex Prewitt poked around on Baseball-Reference.com and learned this is the first time the Twins have had a six-game losing streak immediately after winning at least eight games since 1978. That year, they won eight straight from July 2-9, and lost nine in a row from July 13-21. What a roller coaster.

All-Star voting: It doesn't look like Mauer will be voted into the All-Star Game. The results will be announced Sunday, and in MLB's latest update, the AL catcher race goes like this: 1) Russell Martin 2,779,592; 2) Alex Avila 2,345,065; 3) Mauer 1,699,604; 4) Jarrod Saltalamacchia 1,505,143; 5) Yorvit Torrealba 1,309,802.

No other Twin is listed with the leading vote getters.

DODGERS (36-44)

1. Tony Gwynn, Jr., LF
2. Casey Blake, 1B
3. Andre Ethier, RF
4. Matt Kemp, CF
5. Juan Uribe, 3B
6. Marcus Thames, DH
7. Aaron Miles, 2B
8. A.J. Ellis, C
9. Jamey Carroll, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Ted Lilly (5-7, 4.63 ERA)

TWINS (32-45)

1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Michael Cuddyer, RF
5. Danny Valencia, 3B
6. Luke Hughes, 1B
7. Jason Repko, LF
8. Rene Rivera, C
9. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Brian Duensing (4-7, 4.54 ERA)

Target Field. First pitch: 7:10 p.m. TV: FSN. Twins Radio Network