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
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
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