Interleague play is cool. It allows fans to see teams they don't normally get to see — regardless how you feel about National League teams and the designated hitter.

What really fuels interleague play are the crosstown/regional rivalries. Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, Dodgers-Angels, Reds-Indians.

And Twins-Brewers.

Somehow, Major League Baseball loused this up for a couple of years by scheduling these confrontations during the workweek — two games at one rival followed by two at the other. It made it tough for fans to go on the road, and two-game series stink anyway. You're just getting settled in for a series when it's time to leave.

Now that has changed. The next time your surprising Twins play at Target Field it will be against Milwaukee this weekend in a three-game series. The Brewers aren't doing very well, having canned manager Ron Roenicke a few weeks ago. But that won't stop thousands of Brewers fans from rolling into town to back their team and agitate Twins fans. And they still have the unpredictable Carlos Gomez, plus fellow Twins alums Matt Garza and Kyle Lohse. And Garza and Lohse are both in line to pitch against the Twins this weekend.

"It's huge to have Milwaukee for a weekend series,'' Twins President Dave St. Peter said. "Not only do fans get three games instead of two, but the weekend matchup sets up much better in relation to fans of both teams looking to travel to the Twin Cities for the rivalry series.

"Despite the Brewers' slow start, we expect a healthy number of Cheeseheads in the ballpark next weekend.''

Twins fans will get to return the favor June 26-28 when the Twins are at Milwaukee. That promises to be a huge weekend, as the annual SummerFest is at the same time. Memorable moments at Miller Park include Justin Morneau hitting a 460-foot home run off the scoreboard in center, the entire team shaving their heads in an attempt to end a slump and catcher Drew Butera hitting 94 miles per hour on the radar gun while pitching during a blowout loss.

"It will be interesting to see how many Twins fans make the trek to Milwaukee later in the month,'' St. Peter said. "I'm betting on a big number.''

After the Twins' amazing May, it wouldn't be a surprise to see I-94 filled with cars headed for the series at Miller Park.

The start to the season is just beginning to impact the ticket office, as St. Peter noted good walk-up sales for the Red Sox series last week. He's also seen rising television ratings over the past two weeks.

Good timing by the Twins. They have made themselves watchable again right when people will be looking for something to do one of those glorious summer evenings we're about to be flooded with. They have everyone's attention now, so what are the Twins going to do next?

LA Velle E. Neal III