Twins Vs. Orioles Opening Day: Minnesota's 2-Run Rally Falls Short In The 9th

The Twins fell on Opening Day. 4-2, to the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards.

Twins Vs. Orioles: Minnesota Starts 2012 With Opening Day Against Baltimore

It's the 20th anniversary of the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and the Minnesota Twins are out to spoil it when they kick off their Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. It will be the first game in what is sure to be an intriguing season for the Twins, who finished with the most losses in the American League last season but attributed most of that to the injury bug and bad luck.

The starting batting order has already been released for the Twins as shown below, with Joe Mauer batting third being the man to watch as he always seems to be. There's still some injuries floating around the Twins right now which means there's a couple of new faces on the roster.

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Jamey Carroll, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Josh Willingham, LF
6. Ryan Doumit, RF
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Chris Parmelee, 1B
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Carl Pavano will take the mound for the Twins, he of a 9-13 record and a 4.30 ERA last season during the lost year for Minnesota in 2011. The Orioles will have 26 year old Jake Arrieta starting the opening day affair. Now in his third year of service for the team, Arrieta won 10 games in his sophomore campaign. Big things will be expected of the young man this year, but he is a guy who has never pitched more than 120 innings in his two seasons. Arrieta also had a worrying 5.05 ERA and 21 home runs allowed in 2011, almost a rate of one HR per game.

The game will be at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 3:05 p.m. ET.

For more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. For more on the Balitmore Orioles, head over to Camden Chat. If you want more on Major League Baseball in general, check out Baseball Nation.

Scott Baker Injury Woes Continues In Rehab Start For Minnesota Twins Pitcher

Scott Baker was expected to be in the rotation for the Minnesota Twins this season, but another injury setback won't help him move back to the Twin Cities any time soon. Baker injured himself once again on Thursday night in a rehab start for the Fort Myers Miracle.

It's unclear exactly what caused him to be yanked after just 11 pitches, but the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen was able to get a bit of clarification in an email from general manager Terry Ryan.

"Baker just didn't feel right tonight," Twins GM Terry Ryan said in an e-mail. "He couldn't seem to get loose on the mound and instead of pushing the envelope, we decided we would go get him out of the game. We will evaluate him again tomorrow."

Baker's currently on the disabled list due to tendinitis in his elbow, an injury that's popped up for him quite a bit since 2010. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the future regarding his status.

For more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.

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