It was not supposed to be this way.
The Minnesota Twins season has unraveled. Ravaged by injuries, Delmon Young and Jim Thome have been traded, three fifths of the starting rotation is on the disabled list, and manager Ron Gardenhire has no idea what his day to day lineup is going to be. From mlb.com:
"That's the frustrating part," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You can't just come in every day to the computer and hit go. I have to go the training room and talk to players and check everything out. There's a never a day where you come in, and there's a lineup out. Every day it changes."
For the rotation, it's going to be time to take a look at the kids, if nothing else. The starter for the series opener tonight is lefty Scott Diamond. His major league debut was against Cleveland last week, and he's 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA on the season...and his career, for that matter.
The Twins actually got the better of Detroit the last time they met, taking 2 of 3 while Jim Thome was enroute to career home run 600. But the Tigers have owned the Twins of late, winning 13 of the last 16.
First pitch is from Target Field at 7:10.