By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com

DETROIT — Justin Morneau is not in the lineup today, after leaving last night’s game in the sixth inning with stiffness in his upper back. After the game, he said he didn’t expect to miss more than a couple days with the injury.

I’ll have more of an update on Morneau’s injury later but for now, here are the lineups. Notice that Luke Hughes will be making his Major League debut while starting at third tonight.

Twins

(14-6)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando
Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Jim Thome, DH
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Jason Kubel, RF
Delmon Young, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Luke Hughes, 3B
Pitching: RHP Scott Baker (2-2, 4.81 ERA)

Tigers (11-10)
Austin Jackson, CF
Johnny
Damon, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Brennan Boesch, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Ryan Raburn, 2B
Alex Avila, C
Ramon
Santiago, SS
Pitching: RHP Max Scherzer (1-1, 2.63 ERA)

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By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com

DETROIT — After a day off yesterday, the Twins are getting ready to kick off a three-game series with the Tigers in what will be their first meeting since that epic Game 163 last year.

For me, it’s a chance to return to my hometown (really, I’m from the outer suburbs) and there’s nothing like a nice night at home with a homecooked meal like I had on Monday to start off a road series. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to be in Detroit when the Red Wings are playing a Game 7 against the Phoenix Coyotes, although I’m hoping just to catch the end of that since the games will likely overlap.

As for the news today, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said there is no real update on Nick Punto. He’s scheduled to see a hip specialist in the Twin Cities this week and get his right hip checked out as a precautionary measure.

While a lot of guys have strong numbers against Verlander, Gardenhire chose to leave Delmon Young on the bench with Jim Thome as the DH and Jason Kubel in left field. He said that lefties were hitting better off Verlander than righties (.354 BA vs. .200 BA ) and Thome’s 7 homers also stuck out.

Here are the splits for the three vs. Verlander:
Kubel  .360 BA (9-for-25), 0 HR, 7 RBIs, 4 walks
Thome .244 BA (10-for-41), 7 HR, 11 RBIs, 10 walks
Young  .278 (5-for-18), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 walks

And
now, here are the lineups:

Twins

(13-6)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando
Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer,

RF
Jason Kubel, LF
Jim Thome, DH
J.J. Hardy, SS
Brendan
Harris, 3B
Pitching: LHP Francisco Liriano (2-0, 1.29 ERA)

Tigers (11-9)
Austin Jackson, CF
Johnny Damon, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Brandon Inge, 3B
Ryan Raburn, LF
Gerald Laird, C
Scott Sizemore, 2B
Ramon Santiago, SS
Pitching: RHP Justin Verlander (1-1, 6.95 ERA)

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It’s all come down to this.

For the second straight season, the Twins are playing in Game 163 but this year the group seems a bit looser, perhaps something that a little bit of experience will do for you.

The Twins certainly seem happy to be playing in the Dome. Sure, the home field advantage is great but it was also 46 degrees and pouring rain when I arrived at the Metrodome today. Next year, the club won’t have the roof to their advantage anymore.

Here are a few interesting facts from the Twins game notes today:

— Since the All-Star Break, the Twins are 41-32 while the Tigers have gone 38-37. The Twins have outscored the Tigers over that time (379 runs to 320), but Detroit has the advantage in ERA (4.53) compared to the Twins (4.71).

— Joe Mauer leads the AL batting race by 14 points going into his final day. Mauer’s average is sitting at .364 while Ichiro finished the season at .352. Mauer will join a select group of players who have won three-or-more AL batting titles including Nap Lajoie, Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, George Brett, and Wade Boggs.

UPDATE: The turf in right field is doing OK, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. There are often a few soft spots following a football game due to the bleachers being unrolled out in right field. But Jason Kubel said it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t handle.

There were quite a few Twins players in attendance for Monday night’s Vikings-Packers at the Metrodome. Among those who watched the game from field level were Denard Span, Joe Nathan, Nick Punto, Delmon Young, Jesse Crain and Carl Pavano. The group received a huge ovation from the crowd when they were shown on the jumbotron and Nathan said they couldn’t walk up and down the aisles without getting plenty of high-fives from fans.

As for Gardenhire, he watched the game at home. He had plenty of interest, not just because he’s been a long-time Brett Favre fan.

“I had a lot of fantasy players playing, and I lost,” Gardenhire said.

So what did he think about Favre’s performance.

“He was my fantasy quarterback,” Gardenhire said. “He just didn’t give it to Adrian enough for me.”

Tigers (86-76)
1st place in AL Central, tied
Curtis Granderson, CF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Carlos Guillen, DH
Ryan Raburn, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Gerald Laird, C
Ramon Santiago, SS
Pitching: RHP Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.04)

Twins (86-76)
1st place in AL Central, tied
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Jason Kubel, RF
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Delmon Young, LF
Jose Morales, DH
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: RHP Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36)

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Twins (82-75)
2nd place in AL Central, 2 games back
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Jason Kubel, RF
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Delmon Young, LF
Jose Morales, DH
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: RHP Carl Pavano (11=3-11, 4.86)

Tigers (84-73)
1st place in AL Central
Curtis Granderson, CF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Clete Thomas, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Magglio Ordonez, DH
Carlos Guillen, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Alex Avila, C
Ramon Santiago, SS
Pitching: RHP Eddie Bonine (0-1, 4.60)

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The Twins started off their series against the Tigers last night with their fifth straight win — matching the club’s longest winning streak of the season.

Now they’ll try to see if Carl Pavano can improve his record against the Tigers this season to 5-0 and pull the club within two games of first-place Detroit.

UPDATE: Thanks to fellow MLB.com writer Jason Beck, who covers the Tigers, I learned that Pavano will try to become the first pitcher to beat Detroit five times in one season since Joe Mays did it in 2001.

Here are today’s lineups:

Tigers (78-69)
1st place in AL Central
Curtis Granderson, CF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Carlos Guillen, LF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Aubrey Huff, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Gerald Laird, C
Adam Everett, SS
Pitching: RHP Justin Verlander (16-8, 3.34)

Twins (75-72)
2nd place in AL Central, 3 games back
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Jason Kubel, RF
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Delmon Young, LF
Jose Morales, DH
Brian Buscher, 3B
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: RHP Carl Pavano (12-11, 4.91)

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Here are today’s lineups:

Tigers (78-68)
1st place in AL Central
Ryan Raburn, LF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Marcus Thames, DH
Brandon Inge, 3B
Curtis Granderson, CF
Gerald Laird, C
Adam Everett, SS
Pitching: RHP Rick Porcello (13-8, 4.21)

Twins (74-72)
2nd place in AL Central, 4 games back
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Joe Mauer, C
Jason Kubel, RF
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Delmon Young, LF
Jose Morales, DH
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: LHP Brian Duensing (3-1, 3.53)

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