KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time in nearly two years, Paul Molitor has simply Xeroxed his lineup card and handed it to the umpires for three consecutive games. The Twins have won the first two games here, scoring 12 runs, and “I didn’t see a lot of reason to change just to change,” the Twins manager said. “It’s clicking fairly well. Guys are comfortable where they’re at, and with the matchup tonight, it made sense to leave it alone.”
The lineup includes Robbie Grossman batting ninth, which Molitor said he wanted to do earlier this year, but he needed Grossman’s bat higher in the order. Now, with Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario able to handle the mid-order spots, Molitor likes putting Grossman and his .372 on-base percentage just in front of Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer.
“Being an on-base guy, it’s nice to roll over the lineup with him at the bottom,” Molitor said. “We didn’t have that luxury early in the year.”
It doesn’t hurt that Grossman is 6-for-13 (.462) with five extra-base hits and two walks since returning from the disabled list, of course. With the top of the order coming up right behind him, Grossman has scored in all four games since being activated.
Only once before has Molitor used the same lineup in three straight games, from Sept. 22-24, 2015, in a series with Cleveland. The Twins will face Royals rookie Jakob Junis, who’s 7-2 with a 4.48 ERA. The Twins haven’t seen him since his debut on May 21 at Target Field, when he allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings.
Here are the lineups for Game 3 of this four-game set:
TWINS
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
Polanco SS
Rosario LF
Buxton CF
Kepler RF
E. Escobar 3B
Castro C
Grossman DH
Berrios RHP
ROYALS
Merrifield 2B
Cain CF
Cabrera RF
Hosmer 1B
Perez C
Moustakas 3B
Moss DH
A. Escobar SS
Gordon LF
Junis RHP
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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