UPDATE: Infielder Levi Michael, the Twins' first round pick in the 2011 draft, had to be taken by ambulance to a Fort Myers area hospital on Wednesday after colliding with teammate Anderlin Mejia while going after a ground ball. He has a neck strain but should be fine.


First-round pick Kohl Stewart met with the media today after signing with the Twins for $4.5 million. He was one of 23 players the Twins have signed signed the draft, that was held the first week of June.

``I'm going to wake up every day and give it all I got," said Stewart, a righthander from St. Pius X High in Houston. Stewart was joined by fourth round pick Stephen Gonsalves, a lefthander from Cathedral Catholic High in San Diego. Stewart and Gonsalves are friends, having run into each other at showcases in recent years - including a Perfect Game showcase at the Metrodome last year.

``It's a dream come true. Just an amazing experience to be out here with Kohl," Gonsalves said.
The two will begin their pro careers with the Twins' rookie league team in the Gulf Coast League.

Twins outfielder Josh Willingham is the designated hitter again today after not running well in yesterday's game against the White Sox. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he will be monitoring Willingham's situation. Historically, that has been Gardyspeak for. `I might have to put this guy on the disabled list."

Brian Dozier is batting leadoff tonight because White Sox lefty Chris Sale is hell on left-handed hitters. How bad? They are hitting .075 against him with no home runs this season. Mauer is 3-for-11 (.273) against him.

Gardenhire pointed out that Dozier has a .372 on base percentage against lefthanders, so he gets to lead off against the impressive lefthander.

Twins righthander Kevin Correia is winless in the month of June with a 4.00 ERA.

By the way, it looks like it will be more difficult to post the starting lineups early. Teams were encouraged to post their lineups on a website that we have access to. We could check there as early 2:45 p.m. sometimes and find the Twins lineup.

Now the league has decided to take over posting lineups, and they are usually later in the afternoon - when we are usually in the clubhouse or away from computers. So the lineup blog will roll in later now.

What I still do is take a snapshot of the Twins' lineup in the clubhouse and post it on twitter when the doors open at 3:40 p.m. It's another reason to follow me at @LaVelleNeal. Oh, and Phil Miller at @MillerStrib.


White Sox (29-39)

1. Alejandro De Aza, CF
2. Alexei Ramirez, SS
3. Alex Rios, RF
4. Adam Dunn, DH
5. Paul Konerko, 1B
6. Connor Gillaspie. 1B
7. Dayan Viciedo, LF
8. Gordon Beckham, 2B
9. Tyler Flowers, C

Pitching: Chris Sale, LHP

Twins (31-36)

1. Brian Dozier, 2B
2. Joe Mauer, C
3. Ryan Doumit, RF
4. Josh Willingham, DH
5. Justin Morneau, 1B
6. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
7. Oswaldo Arcia, LF
8. Clete Thomas, CF
9. Pedro Florimon, SS

Pitching: Kevin Correia, RHP