Twins head to Detroit, Mauer on E:60

Although the Twins failed to sweep the Kansas City Royals last weekend, they have still managed to win all six of their series to kick off the 2010 season. That is more than enough to impress this girl.

Joe Mauer's five-hit game on Saturday was also pretty impressive. ESPN E:60 will be featuring a special on him tonight at 6pm, including interviews with Justin Morneau, former Twins general manager Terry Ryan and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.. Be sure to set your DVR or flip back and forth, since the game against the Detroit Tigers starts at 6:05pm.

Here are a few excerpts from the E:60 show...

"He came into Target one day and I happened to be in there… it was just a nightmare. They almost tore his clothes off." - Jake Mauer, Sr. (no... I was not there that day).

"He's a tremendous athlete, he had the make-up to go with it. He's big, he's strong and we thought he'd certainly move quick. He wasn't a normal high school player." - Terry Ryan on seeing Mauer play in high school before drafting him over Mark Prior.

"Joe Mauer will probably be, if [he] continues the way he is, can be the best all-around catcher of all time. He's got the whole package and that's fun to be around." - Justin Morneau on Mauer's future in the game.

"Joe is going to be the mainstay that everyone goes and sees and you can't under estimate the value from a business standpoint or even from a fan standpoint to identify with someone." - Cal Ripken, Jr., who played his entire illustrious career with the Baltimore Orioles.

Francisco Liriano will take his 2-0 record and 1.29 ERA to the hill against Justin Verlander (1-1, 6.95 ERA) this evening.

Some career stats to note for this three-game series: Verlander is 5-6 with 70 strikeouts, 31 walks and a 4.28 ERA against the Twins over 14 lifetime starts. Jim Thome has made a habit of mashing Verlander's taters, sending seven baseballs over the fence with 11 RBI and 10 walks in 41 at bats. Jason Kubel has also seen some success against the right-hander, batting .360 (9-for-25) with 4 doubles and 7 RBI, but no longballs... yet. Mauer, though, has hit three home runs with three doubles and nine RBI off of him.

Meanwhile, Liriano is 3-1 with 64 K's, 12 walks and a 4.56 ERA in 11 career games (seven starts) against Detroit. Maybe watch out for Magglio Ordonez, who has hit a couple homers off Frankie in the past and carries a .381 average against him in 21 at bats.