Twins draw Drabek after Opening Night shellacking

TORONTO -- I haven't seen Kyle Drabek pitch, but I know he's supposed to be pretty special.

The son of Doug Drabek, who won the 1990 NL Cy Young Award for the Pirates, Kyle turned 23 in December. The Blue Jays got him in the trade that sent Roy Halladay to the Phillies in December 2009.

Drabek threw a no-hitter against the Twins' Class AA New Britain affiliate last year on the Fourth of July. The Blue Jays promoted him to the big leagues in mid-September, but he didn't appear in the season-ending four-game series at Target Field.

According to FanGraphs.com, Drabek's average fastball with the Blue Jays last September was 93.8 miles per hour. He also throws a slider, curve ball and change-up.

"Young pitcher with great stuff," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Commands four pretty good pitches. Great curve ball, tight rotation, good fastball, competitor."

He'll offer an interesting challenge of the Twins, coming off their 13-3 drubbing on Opening Night.

Francisco Liriano gets the ball for the Twins. Here are Liriano's thoughts heading into this start.

Update: Gardenhire said he'll use Thome to give several players breaks: Kubel today. Cuddyer, Morneau, Young in coming days.

Update: The Blue Jays scratched Rajai Davis from the starting lineup. David apparently rolled his ankle during the Twins botched rundown Friday. New lineup coming.

TWINS (0-1)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Delmon Young, LF
6. Jim Thome, DH
7. Michael Cuddyer, RF
8. Danny Valencia, 3B
9. Alexi Casilla, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Francisco Liriano (14-10, 3.62 ERA in 2010)

1. Yunel Escobar, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Jose Bautista, RF
4. Adam Lind, 1B
5. Edwin Encarnacion, DH
6. Jayson Nix, 3B
7. Juan Rivera, LF
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Mike McCoy, CF

Starting pitcher: RH Kyle Drabek (0-3, 4.76 ERA in 2010)