The Twins' bullpen was on the field before the game running pass patterns in the outfield, catching baseballs from "quarterback" and strength coach Perry Castellano. There is plenty of talk about fantasy teams and eliminator pools. And with Trojans alum Tommy Milone and USC fans Michael Tonkin, Trevor Plouffe and Aaron Hicks in the clubhouse, there were six television sets showing the USC-Stanford game before batting practice.
Yes, it's football season at Target Field, too.
But three weeks remain in the baseball season, and the Twins are trying to keep everyone healthy down the stretch. Jordan Schafer is still sore after running into the left-field wall during the eighth inning of Friday night's game, and he can't do anything more than pinch-run tonight. Glen Perkins is still suffering from a sore neck that he first reported after pitching Thursday night, and the Twins aren't going to use him for a few days as a precaution, manager Ron Gardenhire said. Casey Fien took a shot off his right forearm last night, "flush on the muscle," he said, but he feels OK today and said he can pitch.
The Twins hope to keep tonight's game simple: Score a few runs for Phil Hughes and let him be, as Gardenhire said before the game, the Twins' "guiding light." Hughes is 5-1 since August 1, with an 0.84 ERA; on the other hand, he hasn't beaten the Angels since 2010.
Here are the lineups for tonight's 6:10 p.m. start against the Angels, owners of the best record in baseball:
ANGELS
Calhoun RF
Trout CF
