The Minnesota Twins narrowly avoided dropping their 5th straight game on Sunday against Milwaukee, but now will hope to use their 15-inning marathon victory to their advantage as they open up a three-game series with Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
After playing nine consecutive interleague games at Target Field, Minnesota starter Scott Diamond will be forced to wield a bat to help out his own cause to kick off the series. Diamond will face a Pittsburgh lineup that has cooled as of late, but still presents many power/speed challenges from 1-to-8 in the order. Right-hander Kevin Correia, who is 2-6 with a 4.43 ERA this season, will get the ball for the Pirates.
With nine home runs already in the month of June alone, third baseman Trevor Plouffe will bat in the No. 5 spot against the Pirates in game one. Plouffe is still hitting a meager .243 for the season, but his 14 home runs and recent power surge have made him a popular name around baseball circles as of late.
Here are the starting lineups for Tuesday's opener:
Twins
1. Denard Span - CF
2. Ben Revere - RF
3. Josh Willingham - LF
4. Justin Morneau - 1B
5. Trevor Plouffe - 3B
6. Ryan Doumit - C
7. Brian Dozier - SS
8. Jamey Carroll - 2B
9. Scott Diamond - SP
Pirates
1. Jose Tabata - LF
2. Josh Harrison - RF
3. Andrew McCutchen - CF
4. Casey McGehee - 1B
5. Neil Walker - 2B
6. Pedro Alvarez - 3B
7. Rod Barajas - C
8. Clint Barmes - SS
9. Kevin Correia - SP
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