The Twins' lineup came out a couple minutes ago. The guess here is that they waited to see if Joe Mauer could play, but the catcher/first baseman/designated hitter remains sidelined with a sore thumb.
A big welcome to Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Sully and I used to cover high school football games back in the day when I lived in Chicago and worked part-time for the Southtown Economist (now the Daily Southtown). Sully's one of the good ones.
Chris Parmelee should be uniform tonight after the Twins called him up from Rochester. It will be interesting to see how much he's improved. UPDATE: Parmelee said he worked out some kinks with Rochester hitting coach Tom Brunansky, cleared his mind and got back to being the hitter he knows he is.
UPDATE II: Mauer took swings before the game and said his bruised thumb felt much better. "I'm going to try to get in there tomorrow," he said.
Denard Span is out with the flu. Ben Revere took over for him in center.
Second-round pick Mason Melotakis and fourth-round pick Zach Jones are in town for physicals, so their contracts should be announced soon, barring any setbacks.
Be back later with updates.
Cubs (19-38)
