Minnesota Twins Game 92: Lineups and First Impressions

Following yet another win over the Seattle Mariners, and a series win, the Minnesota Twins are looking to make it four straight tonight.  Taking on the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, Kris Johnson will look to put the Twins in a position for yet another victory.  With a three game set prior to the All Star Break with the very beatable Rockies, the Twins can end the first half on a high note.

Johnson was called up yesterday and will be making his second start on the season for the Minnesota Twins.  In his first outing against the Dodgers, he went 4.1 innings striking out five while walking six.  Tonight he will go up against Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies.  De La Rosa has been a name dangled in trade rumors, and is clearly auditioning for other teams at this point.

The Twins found themselves in a similar position last season, record wise, before going on a big slide before the All Star Break.  With a winnable series in Colorado, and then matchups with the Rays, Indians, White Sox, and Royals to close out the month, the Twins could make a push back to relevancy.

One step at a time, let’s look at how both teams line up tonight.

Minnesota Twins (42-49)

Brian Dozier 2B

Kurt Suzuki C

Kendrys Morales 1B

Trevor Plouffe 3B

Oswaldo Arcia RF

Eduardo Nunez LF

Eduardo Escobar SS

Sam Fuld CF

Kris Johnson P

Colorado Rockies (39-53)

Charlie Blackmon LF

Drew Stubbs CF

Carlos Gonzalez RF

Troy Tulowitzki SS

Justin Morneau 1B

Nolan Arenado 3B

Wilin Rosario C

DJ LeMahieu 2B

Jorge De La Rosa P

First Impressions

• With no designated hitter, both Josh Willingham and Chris Parmelee find themselves out of the lineup.  With Parmelee having a hot bat, it is interesting that Gardy is playing Nunez in left field over Parmelee.
• Also without the DH, the lineup has been shuffled some, and Plouffe finds himself as the cleanup hitter, sandwiched between a heating up, Morales, and a still looking to find it Arcia.
• For the Rockies, they welcome back Carlos Gonzalez from the DL and he is making his first start in his transition over to RF.
• Twins fans will enjoy seeing former Twins great, Justin Morneau at 1B tonight for the Rockies.  He will be in Minnesota on Monday night competing in the Home Run Derby.
• Unfortunately for Twins fans, Michael Cuddyer is still on the DL for the Rockies and likely will end his season there.

Game Time

First pitch tonight is set for 7:40 pm central time and the game can be seen on Fox Sports North.  For those looking to listen on the radio, check out the Twins Radio Network.