Joe Mauer Injury: Twins Slugger Day-To-Day Due To Thumb

The Minnesota Twins will be without one of their best bats for a short while, possibly a few days, after Joe Mauer injured his thumb during the final game of their series against the Cleveland Indians.

Mauer's injury is listed as a 'mild thumb sprain' on his right hand, sustained when he was hitting a foul ball. He was replaced in the ninth inning as the designated hitter by Darin Mastroianni after feeling pain in the thumb during the final pitch of the count where he injured it in the seventh inning.

"I fouled a pitch back and I felt it," Mauer said. "It was a little worse on that last pitch, too. But it's only day to day, which is good."

The injury is only day to day at the moment, good news for the Twins, who have actually started getting on a bit of a roll in the wins department, as they can use all the help they can get from their stars to keep the winning ways in five games in their last six games going.

Mauer has only missed a single game this season for Minnesota so far.

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Twins Vs. Indians Final Score: Minnesota Takes Series With 6-3 Win

The Minnesota Twins turned in another solid performance against a sinking Cleveland team on Sunday, and took the three-game series with a 6-3 victory in the final game.

As has been the norm during their current upswing, the Twins jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning after a Joe Mauer RBI single plated lead-off hitter Denard Span. Minnesota then added a run to its lead in both the third and fourth frames, and never once needed to look back. Twins hitters tallied 11 hits on the day, as clean-up hitter Josh Willingham finished 2-for-5 with his team-leading 36th RBI of the year.

Due to a pair of errors from shortstop Brian Dozier, Twins starter Scott Diamond finished the game without yielding an earned run despite watching three batters score while he was on the mound. Diamond scattered seven hits over seven innings to lower his season ERA to 1.86, and moved to 4-1 in the process. Offensively, third baseman Trevor Plouffe made the most of his second consecutive start with a 3-for-4 day from the dish, even though he is still hitting just .198 on the year and is stuck in a platoon at the position.

Winners of five of their last six games and looking to keep this rare momentum going, the Twins will travel to Kansas City on Monday for a three-game set with the fourth-place Royals.

For more Twins coverage, check out Twinkie Town. For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best, most insightful MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians: Starting Lineups For Sunday's Game

The upturn continues for the once-left-for-dead Minnesota Twins, as the team has now won four of five games and looks to be waking up at the plate at the ideal time. The Twins are in a position to take their three-game road series with Cleveland with a win on Sunday, but it might take another quality performance from starter Scott Diamond to make it happen.

Minnesota hitters will aim to get the better of Cleveland starter Justin Masterson, who was pounded for eight runs (seven earned) by Kansas City the last time he toed the rubber. Despite struggling with his control (he's walked at least four batters in five separate starts so far this season), Masterson remains a dangerous strikeout artist who can breeze through lineups when his off-speed pitches are clicking. The Twins will need to be extremely patient with the inconsistent righthander if he opens the game with shaky command.

Fresh off a 3 RBI game in Saturday's victory, infielder Trevor Plouffe will start for the second consecutive game at third base for the Twins. Plouffe hit what proved to be a game-winning home run off Cleveland's Josh Tomlin in the sixth inning to put Minnesota ahead on the scoreboard yesterday to mark his sixth homer of the season. Plouffe will assume the No. 8 spot in the order, but could find himself moving up in the near future if his bat can stay hot.

Here are the starting lineups for game three of the series:

Twins

1. Denard Span - CF

2. Ben Revere - RF

3. Joe Mauer - DH

4. Josh Willingham - LF

5. Justin Morneau - 1B

6. Ryan Doumit - C

7. Brian Dozier - SS

8. Trevor Plouffe - 3B

9. Alexi Casilla - 2B

Scott Diamond - SP

Indians

1. Shin-Soo Choo - RF

2. Jason Kipnis - 2B

3. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS

4. Jose Lopez - 3B

5. Michael Brantley - CF

6. Shelley Duncan - DH

7. Matt LaPorta - 1B

8. Aaron Cunningham - LF

9. Lou Marson - C

Justin Masterson - SP

For more on the Twins, head over to Twinkie Town. For more Indians coverage, visit Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to check out Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians: Minnesota Looks For Two In A Row in Cleveland

The Minnesota Twins (19-33) avoided streaking the wrong way with their Saturday night win over the Cleveland Indians (28-24). Now the Twins will try to win the weekend series when they two team finish their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. complete their weekend series with the on Sunday afternoon Progressive Field. The two teams split the first two games of the series after Minnesota slugger Joe Mauer

Minnesota will give the ball to left-hander Scott Diamond who has been strong since joining the Twins' starting rotation in early May. Diamond is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts. Diamond would be happy to see another big day from Minnesota slugger Joe Mauer who hit his way out of a mini-slump in Saturday's win with three hits and three RBIs.

Cleveland will start right-hander Justin Masterson who will try to bounce back from a poor outing in his last start. Masterson is 2-4 on the season with a 5.14 ERA and coming off of a rough performance in his last outing when he gave up seven earned runs in six innings to take the loss against Kansas City.

The game is scheduled to start at 2:05 p.m. CT and will be televised on Fox Sports North.

For more Twins coverage, visit Twinkie Town. For more on the Indians, be sure to check out Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis and insight on the internet, head over to Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians Final Score: Mauer's 3 RBI Lead Minnesota Past Cleveland, 7-4

Powered by a 3-for-4 performance from catcher Joe Mauer, the Minnesota Twins evened their three-game series with Cleveland at one game apiece on Saturday with a 7-4 victory.

Mauer opened the scoring in the first inning for the Twins with an RBI single, and clean-up hitter Justin Morneau followed suit with a base hit of his own that also drove home a run. Minnesota plated two more runs on a Trevor Plouffe clutch single before Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin could work his way through the inning, and staked an immediate 4-0 lead on the scoreboard.

Despite the advantage, Twins starter P.J. Walters struggled to keep Cleveland hitters off balance on his second and third trips through the lineup, and was pulled in the fifth after he gave way to the Indians' game-tying fourth run. Plouffe quickly chipped in his sixth home run of the season on a solo shot to left field in the sixth though, and Mauer put the game on ice the following inning with a two-run bomb of his own that made the score 7-4.

Winners of four of their last five games, all eyes will be on Minnesota starter Scott Diamond on Sunday as he tries to get the better of Cleveland artist Justin Masterson in the series finale.

For more on the Twins, head over to Twinkie Town. For more Indians coverage, visit Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis around, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians: Lineups For Saturday's Game

The Twins will hand the ball to P.J. Walters on Saturday afternoon to try to get back into the win column after a disappointing loss to the Indians on Friday night ended their three-game winning streak. Although the Twins' pitching staff is banged up, they will have their lineup in full on Saturday. The lineups for the game are below.

Minnesota Twins lineup:

1. Denard Span (L) CF

2. Ben Revere (L) RF

3. Joe Mauer (L) C

4. Josh Willingham (R) LF

5. Justin Morneau (L) 1B

6. Ryan Doumit (S) DH

7. Brian Dozier (R) SS

8. Trevor Plouffe (R) 3B

9. Jamey Carroll (R) 2B

Indians lineup:

1. Shin-Soo Choo (L) RF

2. Jason Kipnis (L) 2B

3. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS

4. Jose Lopez (R) DH

5. Michael Brantley (L) CF

6. Casey Kotchman (L) 1B

7. Johnny Damon (L) LF

8. Lonnie Chisenhall (L) 3B

9. Lou Marson (R) C

Josh Tomlin is on the hill for Cleveland.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Twins, check outTwinkie Town. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians: Minnesota Hopes To Avoid Another Streak Against Cleveland

The Minnesota Twins absorbed another disappointing loss on Friday night to the Cleveland Indians along with more injury news that revealed starting pitcher Carl Pavano may need some time off to rest his ailing shoulder. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Twins which came on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

So the Twins will try to avoid streaking back in the wrong direction on Saturday in the second game of their weekend series at Cleveland. Right-hander P.J. Walters will take the mound for Minnesota, looking to add another strong effort for the Twins. Walters has just four starts for Minnesota's make-shift pitching rotation but has been impressive with a 2-1 record and 2.96 ERA.

The Indians remain in a battle for the top spot in the AL Central after a recent 1-5 stretch saw them give up the division lead to the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland will look to right-hander Josh Tomlin to shut down Minnesota. In six starts this season, Tomlin is 2-2 with a 4.99 ERA which includes earning the only win during that 1-5 stretch last week.

The game is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. ET and will be televised on FOX.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more on the Twins, check out Twinkie Town. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Carl Pavano Injury: More Questions Than Answers For Minnesota Twins Starter

Minnesota Twins veteran right-hander Carl Pavano struggled again on the mound Friday night, giving up six earned runs in less than four innings to the Cleveland Indians to take the loss. Pavano is now 2-5 on the season with a 6.00 ERA, but an ailing right shoulder has made things worse of late.

Pavano is 0-3 in his last five starts, failing to get past the fifth inning in the last two while giving up six earned runs in both outings. According to this report by John Shipley, Pavano may need to shut it down for awhile to address the weakness and soreness in his shoulder while trying to bring his arm back to life.

Pavano said he's not inclined to get a cortisone shot in his ailing shoulder -- "There was a time," he said, "but if you're dealing with a weakness, it's not necessarily the answer." -- so rest seems to be the obvious course. The only Twins starter to pitch at least 200 innings the past two seasons, Pavano has thrown as many as 80 only once in his past six starts.

Pitching health has already altered the Twins' season so far as they have used nine different starters filling in for various injuries to Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn.

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Twins Vs. Indians Final Score: Minnesota's Win Streak Ends In 7-1 Loss

Minnesota's brief three-game winning streak came to an end on Friday, as the rival Cleveland Indians rolled over Twins pitching en route to a 7-1 victory.

Twins starter Carl Pavano struggled to keep Cleveland hitters off balance and was pulled from the game in the fourth inning, but not before giving up a grand slam to Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis that ballooned the Minnesota deficit to 7-0. Pavano's final line of 3.2 innings, nine hits, and seven runs (six earned) moved his season ERA to a 6.00, and raised further questions about both his health and future in the rotation.

The lone Minnesota run of the evening came on a Brian Dozier single that plated Josh Willingham in the seventh inning, but the Twins were unable to do further damage in the frame. Out of the Twins' six hits as a team, three were recorded by catcher Ryan Doumit, who raised his season average to .271 with the strong performance despite a no-show from most of his teammates.

Aiming to get back on track, the Twins need to hope that 27-year-old righty P.J. Walters can right the ship in game two on Saturday against Cleveland's Josh Tomlin.

For more on the Twins, check out Twinkie Town. For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Twins Vs. Indians: Minnesota Faces Reeling Cleveland

The tables have turned on the tales of these teams from a month ago. The Indians, who had a commanding lead on the AL Central for almost two months, are now on the inside looking up at the leading Chicago White Sox. They have dropped five of their last six games while the struggling Twins are actually on a bit of a roll now following a three game sweep of the Oakland A's.

Minnesota's pitching has been bad all season, but the Indians have had some putrid outings themselves recently. Their starter on Friday, Derek Lowe, has lost two games in a row to bump his ERA up to 3.25 and his record to 6-3. He did beat the Twins his last time out against them 5-0, though. His strikeout/walk numbers aren't supreme either, with 18 in both columns.

The Twins will send out Carl Pavano to counter Lowe. Pavano has a 2-4 record and a 5.46 ERA, fitting numbers in the Twins pitching staff that hasn't had any real stand out this season.

The game will be at Progressive Field at 7:05 p.m. ET.

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Five Reasons Why the Minnesota Twins Can Take a Series In Cleveland from the Indians

Coming off a series sweep of the A's, the Twins will take any advantage they can get in order to keep this winning streak moving.