NEW YORK — Now things get difficult.

As if falling behind by a half-dozen runs in each of the first two games wasn't enough, the Twins face perhaps their toughest challenge on Saturday. Gerrit Cole, the Yankees' ace and a pitcher who has dominated the Twins once already this season, is on the mound for today's 1:10 p.m. matinee.

The Twins will counter with their own best pitcher, Kenta Maeda, who has started three consecutive Minnesota victories and shut out the Rays over six innings in his last start. Maeda has never pitched in Yankee Stadium, though given that he's 33 and has been in the major leagues for six years, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli doesn't expect that to be an issue.

"I think Kenta will relish being here and pitching in Yankee Stadium. I'm excited personally to watch him throw against these guys," Baldelli said. "He's been throwing the ball well. It's a good feeling, sending him out to the mound today. It will be a fun day at the ballpark, watching him and Cole go at it."

Fun isn't usually what happens with Cole on the mound. The former first overall draft pick is 11-6 this season and owns a 3.04 ERA. He's faced the Twins twice in his career, for a total of 13 innings — and never has allowed more than one hit in any of them.

Max Kepler returns to the Twins' lineup after sitting out Friday's 10-2 loss to lefthander Nestor Cortes. Here are the lineups for this afternoon's game, which will be televised by FS1 and BSN:

TWINS

Kepler RF

Polanco 2B

Donaldson DH

Arraez 3B

Refsnyder LF

Jeffers C

Gordon CF

Astudillo 1B

Simmons SS

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Maeda RHP

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YANKEES

LeMahieu 2B

Rizzo 1B

Judge CF

Stanton RF

Odor 3B

Voit DH

Velazquez SS

Higashioka C

Wade LF

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Cole RHP

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