Joe Mauer came into Monday's game hot on the heels of Detroit's Miguel Cabrera in the chase for the American League batting title. However, a 1-5 performance by Mauer against the Blue Jays and a 4-5 night by Cabrera has put the race essentially out of reach. Mauer is currently batting .322, trailing Cabrera's .329 mark by .007 with two games remaining. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire expects Mauer to play in the last two games of the season.
"He wants to be in there battling for it," Gardenhire said. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow and see where we're at tomorrow and go from there."
Mauer has never faced Tuesday night's starter for the Blue Jays, Chad Jenkins. He is 1-2 against the Jays' expected Wednesday night starter, Brandon Morrow, but hasn't faced him since the 2009 season. Cabrera is a combined 11-34 against the two Kansas City starters scheduled in their final two games.