Minnesota Twins Game 120: Lineups and First Impressions

Here we stand, the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball as a whole, are hitting the home stretch.  Fresh off a 2-1 series win over the Houston Astros, the Minnesota Twins are headed home to do battle with one of the hottest teams in baseball.

The Kansas City Royals come to town winners of nine out of their last 10 games.  Currently, the Royals sit atop the AL Central and lead the Detroit Tigers by .5 game.

Tonight for the Royals, Danny Duffy will take the mound.  He will be opposed by Ricky Nolasco for the Twins.  Nolasco is re-entering the starting rotation after being placed on the disabled list.  Following a strong rehab stint with Single-A Cedar Rapids, Nolasco looks poised to chip away at his current ERA.

Here is how both teams will line up tonight:

Kansas City Royals (66-54) Lineup

Nori Aoki (L) RF

Omar Infante (R) 2B

Salvador Perez (R) C

Billy Butler (R) 1B

Alex Gordon (L) LF

Josh Willingham (R) DH

Mike Moustakas (L) 3B

Alcides Escobar (R) SS

Jarrod Dyson (L) CF

• Danny Duffy P

Minnesota Twins (54-65) Lineup

Danny Santana(S) CF

Brian Dozier(R) 2B

Joe Mauer (L) 1B

Kennys Vargas(S) DH

Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B

Kurt Suzuki (R) C

Oswaldo Arcia (L) RF

Eduardo Escobar(S) SS

Jordan Schafer(L) RF

• Ricky Nolasco P

First Impressions

• Nolasco is ready to come back to the Twins starting rotation.  Ugly ERA aside, what he does the rest of the season will go a long way towards how the Twins set things up next year.
• Kennys Vargas has been a lot of fun in the lineup, hopefully he can keep it going at home where he hit his first home run 10 days ago.
• Joe Mauer also makes his return to Target Field.  The bat has been great since coming off the DL, would be nice to see that continue.
• The Royals are no slouch anymore, this will be a nice series for the Twins to try to steal some wins.
• Josh Willingham makes his return to Target Field for the first time as a member of the Royals.  One of the better personalities in baseball, he is sure to get a nice ovation.

Game Time

First pitch is 7:10pm Central from Target Field.  With gorgeous weather today in the Twin Cities, it looks like a great night to be at the ballpark.

The game can be seen on FOX Sports North and heard across the Minnesota Twins Radio Network.