By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins made a roster move before the game to reinstate Nick Blackburn from the Family Medical Emergency List. To make room for Blackburn, they optioned right-hander Jeff Manship to Triple-A Rochester.

So the Twins will continue to go with just six relievers for the time being. It’s not an issue that manager Ron Gardenhire is hugely concerned with as he said that in the past teams did not always rely on seven pitchers in the bullpen.

Blackburn will be starting for the Twins tonight. He didn’t face the Tigers last week in Detroit, but the Twins will try to see if they can fare better against Dontrelle Willis the second time around. Willis held Minnesota scoreless over six innings last Thursday.

Joe Mauer had an MRI on his bruised left heel, just to make sure that nothing else was going on. But the MRI came back showing just a deep soft tissue bruise so the catcher remains day-to-day.

Tigers
(16-11)
Austin

Jackson, CF
Johnny
Damon, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Brennan
Boesch, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Scott Sizemore, 2B
Gerald Laird, C
Adam Everett, SS
Pitching: LHP Dontrelle Willis (1-1, 3.75 ERA)

Twins

(17-9)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando
Hudson, 2B
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jim Thome, DH
Michael Cuddyer,
RF
Delmon Young, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Wilson Ramos, C
Nick Punto, 3B
Pitching: RHP Nick Blackburn (1-1, 6.85
ERA)

A
reminder
you
can follow me on Twitter  @kellythesier 

By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins and Tigers are set to meet in Minnesota for the first time since Game 163 last October, although this time it’s at a new venue (Target Field instead of the Metrodome) and the Tigers seem very excited about that fact.

The two AL Central foes are vying for first place in this series, as the Twins currently sit just a half game ahead of Detroit in the standings.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said that Joe Mauer’s sore left heel is “still sore but it’s feeling better than yesterday.” Mauer remains unavailable, even as a pinch-hitter although the skipper wanted to keep the opponents guessing. The club wants Mauer to get all of the soreness out of his heel before he tries to do any baseball activities. For now, Mauer is getting treatment on the heel and doing some aquatherapy — quite a bit since no one saw him.

Nick Blackburn was back in the Twins clubhouse on Monday afternoon following his family medical emergency leave. He said that everything is OK with his family and he’s glad to be back with the team. He’s scheduled to start on Tuesday and will try to bounce back from a few of the struggles

As for Scott Baker pitching tonight and his high number of walks, Gardy said that it’s a new month and he’s looking forward to the right-hander turning things around.

“It was April.
Heard a lot about April and his slow starts. We’re going to turn it
around and be fine in May.”

Tigers (16-10)
Austin

Jackson, CF
Johnny
Damon, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Brennan
Boesch, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Ryan Raburn, 2B
Gerald Laird, C
Ramon Santiago, SS
Pitching: RHP Max Scherzer (1-1, 4.23 ERA)

Twins

(16-9)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando
Hudson, 2B
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jim Thome, DH
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason
Kubel, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Wilson Ramos, C
Nick Punto, 3B
Pitching: RHP Scott Baker (2-2, 5.72
ERA)

A
reminder
you
can follow me on Twitter  @kellythesier 

By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com

DETROIT — The Twins are going for their seventh straight series win today in their rubber match against the Tigers, but they’ll be doing so without a few of their key hitters in the lineup.

Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy are all not starting today. For Morneau it’s the second straight game he’s missed due to oblique stiffness in his mid-back. Mauer’s legs are a little sore and he is a little banged up from catching while Hardy is battling a case of turf toe.

Mauer and Hardy are available off the bench. Morneau will get another full day of rest — he won’t even swing today — and the expectation is that he could be back in the lineup perhaps as early as tomorrow in Cleveland.

Twins

(14-7)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando
Hudson, 2B
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Jim Thome, DH
Jason
Kubel, RF
Delmon Young, LF
Brendan Harris, SS
Luke Hughes, 3B
Drew Butera, C
Pitching: RHP Carl Pavano (3-1, 4.24
ERA)

Tigers (12-10)
Austin
Jackson, CF
Johnny
Damon, DH
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Brennan
Boesch, LF
Brandon Inge, 3B
Gerald Laird, C
Scott Sizemore, 2B
Adam Everett, SS
Pitching: LHP Dontrelle Willis (0-1, 5.00 ERA)

A
reminder
you
can follow me on Twitter  @kellythesier 

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)

A
reminder
you
can follow me on Twitter  @kellythesier 

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)

A reminder
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can follow me on Twitter  @kellythesier