Losers of seven of their last 10 games, the Minnesota Twins will aim to right the ship on Friday evening as they open up a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark.
While injured slugger Joe Mauer remains out, Ryan Doumit will once again assume the catching duties for the Twins, and will bat sixth on Friday against Cincinnati pitcher Homer Bailey. Directly ahead of Doumit in the order is none other than red-hot third baseman Trevor Plouffe, who has already recorded nine home runs and nine multi-hit games in the month of June alone.
Getting the ball for manager Ron Gardenhire to kick the series off will be right-hander Nick Blackburn, who will be making his 11th start of 2012. Blackburn's inordinately-high 7.42 ERA seems to indicate that his time in the rotation may not last much longer if he can't figure things out soon, despite the fact that he's walked away with a victory in each of his last three decisions.
Here are Friday's starting lineups for both teams:
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. Nick Blackburn - SP
Reds
1. Zack Cozart - SS
2. Chris Heisey - CF
3. Joey Votto - 1B
4. Brandon Phillips - 2B
5. Jay Bruce - RF
6. Ryan Ludwick - LF
7. Scott Rolen - 3B
8. Devin Mesoraco - C
9. Homer Bailey - SP
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