The Twins will try to play the spoiler tonight as they face a Yankees team that is in the midst of a playoff push.
Looking at their lineup, the initial reaction is that they aren't putting their best nine on the field. But trades and injuries to to Miguel Sano and Tyler Austin limits what manager Paul Molitor can do - especially with Yankees lefthander J.A. Happ on the mound.
Lefthanded hitters are batting just .071 against Happ this season with no home runs. While Joe Mauer is in the lineup and will bat leadoff. But Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler are not. Rosario is 2-for-8 with a homer off of Happ.
Robbie Grossman is batting .303 against lefties and has been on a roll lately. Johnny Field does have one homer off of Happ. Home run hero Willians Astudillo is back at DH. Former Yankee farmhand Jake Cave is in center.
We'll see how it goes....
Twins manager Paul Molitor didn't sound too optimistic that Miguel Sano would return to the lineup soon. There's still soreness near his knee, with incremental progress each day. Tyler Austin got in some early work, so that's a sign his back is doing better.
Righthander Kyle Gibson threw six shutout innings at the Yankees in New York earlier this season, and he has a shot to reach double digit wins for fourth time in his career. But he'll have to tame a Yankee lineup with five players with at least 22 home runs.
Pack a lunch...
