Who expected this? Twins vs. Rockies is matchup of first-place teams

Hard to believe there's no national TV broadcast of tonight's game. A matchup of first-place teams? Apparently word hasn't gotten out.

And that extends to the Twins' dugout, too. Paul Molitor said he is vaguely aware that the Twins lead the AL Central at the moment, but "we're mindful of the fact that we haven't even reached the quarter pole this year.:

He's right, of course, but that doesn't lessen the novelty of a game between the Twins and Colorado Rockies, who hold a two-game lead in the NL West, matching division leaders. The Rockies, who finished fourth with a 75-87 record last year, have visited Target Field only once before, winning one of three games in June 2010, so the matchup is rare enough as it is.

Molitor isn't watching the standings, but he's certainly aware, of course, how much things have changed this season.

"We've played good baseball. I'm more pleased with that than the record," the Twins manager said. "Most days, you come down to the last inning or two, we've had a chance to win."

But again, it's still May, and the Twins are still working through a lot of issues. They haven't had a set five-man rotation in a month now. While he's glad the players feel differently about their games this season than last, Molitor said, "I hope [they feel] that way in August, too."

Here are the lineups for tonight's series opener, which despite some rain headed toward the Twin Cities, should be played as scheduled:

ROCKIES

Blackmon CF

LeMahieu 2B

Arenado 3B

Reynolds DH

Gonzalez RF

Desmond 1B

Parra LF

Valaika SS

Wolters C

Freeland LHP

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Grossman RF

Sano 3B

Vargas 1B

Escobar DH

Polanco SS

Castro C

Buxton CF

Rosario LF

Hughes RHP