Fresh off being carved up by Seattle ace Felix Hernandez in Monday's loss, the Minnesota Twins will hope to bounce back on Tuesday in game two against the Mariners at Target Field.
Outfielder Denard Span opened the day as the team's projected leadoff hitter set to man the middle of the outfield, but was a late scratch on manager Ron Gardenhire's lineup card due to shoulder soreness. Span was replaced by 27-year-old reserve speedster Darin Mastroianni, who has played admirably this season in Span's absence.
Suspended six games by the league for throwing a fastball at the head of Texas slugger Josh Hamilton, Minnesota left-hander Scott Diamond is currently appealing and will thus remain on the mound for the Twins in the short-term. Diamond is 10-5 with a sparkling 3.04 earned-run average this year, and remains one of the few bright spots in a messy Minnesota pitching rotation.
Here are the starting lineups:
Twins
1. Ben Revere - CF
2. Darin Mastroianni - RF
3. Joe Mauer - C
4. Josh Willingham - LF
5. Justin Morneau - 1B
6. Ryan Doumit - DH
7. Trevor Plouffe - 3B
8. Jamey Carroll - 2B
9. Pedro Florimon - SS
Scott Diamond - SP
Mariners
1. Dustin Ackley - 2B
2. Franklin Gutierrez - CF
3. Kyle Seager - 3B
4. Jesus Montero - DH
5. Justin Smoak - 1B
6. Miguel Olivo - C
7. Eric Thames - RF
8. Trayvon Robinson - LF
9. Brendan Ryan - SS
Hisashi Iwakuma - SP
Head over to Twinkie Town for more Twins news, and make sure to visit Lookout Landing for more Mariners coverage. Also check out Baseball Nation for even more analysis from around the league.