First, a hearty thank you to La Velle for saving the first extra-innings contest of the season for me. Nothing like working off the rust of writing deadline game stories and getting hit with a 12-inning stress test. (Just kidding, big guy! Glad to help you out after that long road trip.)

Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 tonight, raising his average to .400. Tough to track this so early in the season, but I believe he’s going to wake up leading the American League, if not the majors, in hitting. Vladdy Guerrero is 0-for-1 with three walks out west for the Angels, who are playing the Tigers late, but that’s the latest update.

After the game, Gardenhire dropped a little news on us. Luis Castillo is day-to-day and not headed for the DL with his strained quad. The doctors checked him out today, and the DL was a possibility, but he came out of it OK. Gardenhire said Castillo and Rondell White could both be “running around” tomorrow, meaning BP, and if that goes well, they could both return soon. White will require a roster move, when he comes off the DL, and the speculation in Rochester is that it will be Josh Rabe headed back down.

Gardenhire also sounded encouraged by the progress Jeff Cirillo is making in his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery. Cirillo too could be out there for BP tomorrow, and boy do the Twins miss his righthanded bat against lefthanded pitchers.

Some Gardenhire quotes that didn’t make the paper:

(On Travis Hafner, who went 4 for 4, reached base six times and scored the winning run)

“We didn’t really let him kill us in too many situations. He got some hits, but we were able to keep the ball in the ballpark. You walk him leading off the [12th] inning, that always seems to come back and bite you.”

(On Nick Punto, who went 0 for 5, lowering his average to .186)

“He’s been swinging better lately. He hit the ball hard the first three times up. I think he hit three missiles. … You can’t do much more than that. He’s just got to find some luck now.”

That’s it for me. It’s 12:18 on the Metrodome clock, and this day started with an early morning request from my baseball editor to chase down a story that has turned into Champagnegate. Torii Hunter is one of the most generous people I know, and this is where it gets him.

[[Update]] Luis Castillo is having his sore quadriceps muscle examined by the team’s medical staff before the game, but for now, this doesn’t appear to be a DL situation. 

It looks like Manager Ron Gardenhire is giving Jason Kubel a start against a lefthanded pitcher today. Updates to come.

Indians lineup: Grady Sizemore CF, Casey Blake 3B, Travis Hafner DH, Victor Martinez C, Ryan Garko 1B, Trot Nixon RF, Jhonny Peralta SS, Shin-Soo Choo LF, Josh Barfield 2B. Pitcher: LH Jeremy Sowers (0-0, 5.17).

Twins lineup: Alexi Casilla 2B, Nick Punto 3B, Joe Mauer C, Michael Cuddyer RF, Justin Morneau 1B, Torii Hunter CF, Mike Redmond DH, Jason Kubel LF, Jason Bartlett SS. Pitcher: RH Carlos Silva (1-1, 2.00).

Metrodome. Scheduled first pitch: 7:10 p.m.

I know the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry can be nauseating for baseball fans with no connections to the East Coast. But I have to say it: Last night offered one of the best games I’ve ever seen. I found the Dice-K matchups with the Yankee hitters absolutely riveting. The four consecutive home runs by Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek were both mind-boggling and historic.

At the end, it came down to A-Rod against Papelbon, just like you knew it would, and the Red Sox held on for a sweep. It was pretty cool, too, that with all those big stars on the field, one of the most important plays was made by Boston’s little second baseman, Dustin Pedroia. My wife’s an Arizona State grad, who also worked for the Sun Devils’ baseball program, so we got a kick out of watching Pedroia, the former ASU star, coming through on a big night. Old friend Gordon Edes has more in today’s Boston Globe.

Tonight, I’ll be covering my first game since undergoing laser-eye surgery five days ago in St. Paul. While preparing this morning, I found a story that, pardon the hideous pun, caught my eye in the Los Angeles Times: Kevin Baxter writes about the quest for baseball players to see 20/20 or better. It includes an interesting anecdote about Coon Rapids native Dan Johnson:

Same thing with Oakland’s Dan Johnson, who accidentally sprayed sunscreen into his right eye last spring and wound up with double vision.

“I used to hit breaking balls — [until] I couldn’t see them,” recalled Johnson, whose batting average plummeted more than 40 points. He didn’t even try to hit curveball pitches, he said. “I would just take them, because I would lose them.”

Johnson did eye exercises during the off-season for up to six hours a day. The improvement showed in spring training, where he hit .294 with 10 walks before he ended up on the disabled list because of a hip injury.

I’m sitting home, listening to Vin Scully on the Dodgers/Pirates telecast. For me, it doesn’t get any better. He pretty much pays for the Extra Innings package himself. As a friend once told me, “I could listen to Vin Scully read the phone book.”

If you’ve got the blahs after watching the Twins struggle against Jorge De La Rosa today, you should know that ESPN’s Buster Olney recently wrote in his blog how Royals GM Dayton Moore talked up De La Rosa’s potential all winter. Ramon Ortiz had another strong outing. That’s important in the big picture.

The Twins (11-7) are still in first place with a one-game lead over Detroit (10-8), which won in dramatic fashion today over the White Sox (9-8), who sit a 1 1/2 games back, along with Cleveland (8-7). Big start for Carlos Silva tomorrow against the Indians at the Metrodome. The Twins will face another lefthander, in Jeremy Sowers, and this will be tough on the offense. Entering today, they were batting .248 against lefties, .304 against righties, and that number against LHPs dropped even lower against De La Rosa.

Anyway, those are just some quick thoughts as I get ready to watch Dice-K take on the Yankees tonight. Yes, I mocked ESPN last week for picking up all these Yankees games, but I have to admit, the matchup of Dice-K against that lineup does have me intrigued. For now, I’m settling in for a few more innings of Vin Scully. I’m curious: Who are some of your favorite broadcasters throughout the game (radio or TV)?