Span and Mauer out of lineup, as Twins face KC's surprising new force

KANSAS CITY, MO. -- The Twins will be trying to win their third consecutive series tonight, facing Felipe Paulino, a hard-throwing righthander who has posted a 1.70 ERA in six starts this season.

Paulino is a pretty good story, practically stolen from the Rockies last year, and right now, Royals fans are asking themselves if he's for real, as The Kansas City Star's Sam Mellinger writes today. From the story:

For instance, did you know that Paulino throws the fourth-fastest fastball of any pitcher in baseball with at least 30 innings this season? That's faster than Justin Verlander and every other pitcher in baseball save Stephen Strasburg, Jeff Samardzija and David Price.

Or did you know that, according to the wonderful FanGraphs, Paulino throws baseball's 10th-most effective slider? That's better than Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain, CC Sabathia and others.

The Twins are going with an interesting lineup. Denard Span is getting the night off, and Joe Mauer is out with a sprained right thumb. Mauer is out in the bullpen, catching Scott Diamond's bullpen session.

Update: Manager Ron Gardenhire said he just wanted to give Span a breather, and this will give him two days off with Thursday's off day.

Mauer still hasn't swung a bat, and that's going to be the big test with his thumb. The Twins will see where he's at Friday after the off day. It's not a DL situation yet.

TWINS (21-34)

1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Jamey Carroll, 3B
3. Josh Willingham, LF
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Ryan Doumit, C
6. Trevor Plouffe, 1B
7. Brian Dozier, SS
8. Alexi Casilla, 2B
9. Darin Mastroianni, RF

Starting pitcher: RH Nick Blackburn (1-4, 8.37 ERA)

ROYALS (24-30)

1. Alex Gordon, LF
2. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
3. Billy Butler, DH
4. Mike Moustakas, 3B
5. Jeff Francoeur, RF
6. Eric Hosmer, 1B
7. Johnny Giavotella, 2B
8. Jarrod Dyson, CF
9. Humberto Quintero, C

Kauffman Stadium. First pitch: 7:10 p.m. TV: FSN. Twins Radio Network