Nothing says Texas in the summer more than blistering heat and lots of sunshine. When I landed in Dallas last night, the crew announced that the temperature had fallen to 100 degrees. So the fact that it’s around 90 degrees in Arlington today is considered somewhat of a break for the Twins. However, I’m still adjusting to the “cooldown” here and it certainly feels warm to me.

Of course coming from the cool temperatures over the past few days in the Twin Cities, this heat probably feels a little more sweltering to me than usual.

The Twins open the second half with a little different looking roster. Alexi Casilla is here and gets the start at second base tonight. He’s also batting second and the hope is that he’ll be able to carry over the recent offensive success he’s had at Triple-A Rochester. Manager Ron Gardenhire also hopes that Casilla can “get the outs you are supposed to get.”

Gardy also said that he’ll mix in all three of his infielders into those two middle spots. So Nick Punto, Brendan Harris and Casilla will all see playing time.
Kevin Mulvey was also in the clubhouse this afternoon and preparing for his new role in long relief. He left 8-9 tickets for family and friends who have traveled here to Texas, hoping to see his Major League debut.

As for the All-Star Break, everyone seemed to survive their few days off just fine. Everyone that is except for bench coach Steve Liddle who came back with a few bangs and bruises from his trip with other members of the coaching staff. It was Gardenhire who came back with stitches last year after hitting his head on his Motorhome, but this year Liddle got the brunt of the mishaps as he has some cuts and bruises from various accidents during the trip. Luckily it’s nothing serious and generated more laughs than anything else.

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Here are today’s lineups:

Twins (45-44)
3rd place in AL Central, 4.0 games back

Denard Span, LF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, DH
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Joe Crede, 3B
Brendan Harris, SS
Carlos Gomez, CF
Pitching: LLHP Glen Perkins (4-5, 4.71)

Rangers (48-39)
2nd place in AL West, 2.0 games back

Ian Kinsler, 2B
Michael Young, 3B
Josh Hamilton, CF
Andruw Jones, DH
Hank Blalock, 1B
Marlon Byrd, LF
Nelson Cruz, RF
Taylor Teagarden, C
Elvis Andrus, SS
Pitching: RHP Vicente Padilla (7-4, 4.53)