There is something about the A’s and their ability to find left-handed pitchers, particularly starters.The Twins are currently in a stretch of facing five straight southpaws. They sawJarrod Washburn and Erik Bedard over the final two games in Seattle and now comes another trio of young Oakland lefties. Last year during the Twins long stretch of facing left-handed starters, the club saw a slew of lefties in Oakland. But now this is an entirely different group of lefties that the A’s have in their rotation, so the Twins will test their luck against some new arms they haven’t seen before.

Joe Crede is out of the lineup today with a sore left calf after he fouled a ball off it during Sunday’s contest in Seattle. Matt Tolbert gets the start at third base in his place.

With lefties batting .128 and righties batting .237 against A’s starter Josh Outman (could there be a better last name for a pitcher?), manager Ron Gardenhire said he opted against starting Jason Kubel. Instead, Delmon Young will be the designated hitter and the club will see what he can do in the series opener.

Also, the A’s had a roster move before the game. Outfielder Ryan Sweeney was placed on the disabled list with a sprained MCL in his left knee. Infielder Daric Barton was called up from Triple-A Sacramento.

Today’s Lineups:

Twins
Denard Span, LF
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Brendan Harris, SS
Delmon Young, DH
Carlos Gomez, CF
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Pitching: Anthony Swarzak, RHP

A’s
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Adam Kennedy, 2B
Jack Cust, DH
Matt Holliday, LF
Jason Giambi, 1B
Kurt Suzuki, C
Aaron Cunningham, RF
Jack Hannahan, 3B
Rajai Davis, CF
Pitching: Josh Outman, LHP