Twins manager Ron Gardenhire dished more unsolicited praise toward second baseman Alexi Casilla following Monday’s 2-0 victory over the Tigers.

Detroit had runners at first and second with no outs in the sixth inning. With Placido Polanco at the plate, Gardenhire said it was a bunt situation, and the Tigers tried a hit-and-run. In other words, there was a lot of commotion when Polanco grounded a ball toward the middle of the diamond.

Casilla got to the ball, shoveled it to shortstop Jason Bartlett, who fired to first baseman Justin Morneau for the double play. Carlos Silva then retired Gary Sheffield to end the inning.

“That was a huge play,” Gardenhire said. “Really nice for Alexi to recognize it and get the ball to Barty quick with the little backhand; he’s been working on that, and you know what, that was kind of sharp too.”

Brace yourselves, folks. Matthew LeCroy is catching tonight. He is batting .565 (13-for-23) with four homers in his career against tonight’s starter for Detroit, Nate Robertson.

This will be LeCroy’s first big league appearance at catcher since May 25, 2006. That day, the Houston Astros stole seven bases against LeCroy, and he committed two errors, prompting then-Washington Nationals manager Frank Robinson to replace LeCroy with emergency catcher Robert Fick in the middle of the seventh inning.

Robinson was in tears afterward, as he explained the move to the media, but LeCroy said, “If my daddy was managing this team, I’m sure he would have done the same thing.”

Update: Joe Mauer will probably catch only one or two more times during this final week, Manager Ron Gardenhire said, explaining the LeCroy move. Gardy said he met with Mauer after yesterday’s game and said it’s not worth pushing him with the hamstring issue. Mauer will likely catch Wednesday, when Johan Santana pitches, and then perhaps once more in Boston. With Mike Redmond out with a finger injury, and Jose Morales with an ankle injury, LeCroy and Chris Heintz are Gardenhire’s only two healthy catchers.

Update: Actually, this is a late lineup update. Lew Ford was scratched. He came down with a sore hand after hitting during early batting practice. Jason Kubel is playing left field.

Twins lineup: Jason Bartlett SS, Jason Kubel LF, Torii Hunter CF, Justin Morneau 1B, Michael Cuddyer RF, Matthew LeCroy C, Rondell White DH, Nick Punto 3B, Alexi Casilla 2B. Starting pitcher: RH Carlos Silva.

Tigers lineup: Curtis Granderson CF, Placido Polanco 2B, Gary Sheffield DH, Magglio Ordonez RF, Carlos Guillen SS, Ivan Rodriguez C, Timo Perez LF, Sean Casey 1B, Brandon Inge 3B. Starting pitcher: LH Nate Robertson.

Comerica Park. Scheduled first pitch: 7:05 p.m.

Well, I really had hoped this final Twins road trip, to Detroit and Boston, would be filled with games pivotal to the pennant race. The Yankees spoiled it. Their magic number to eliminate the Tigers is two. Boston is clinging to a 1 1/2-game lead in the AL East, so when I get to Fenway on Friday, that could still be on the line, but it hardly seems relevant. Both teams are in.

A good friend from Faribault has tickets for next weekend’s series between the Padres and Brewers at Miller Park. He had hoped to see the Brewers clinch a playoff spot, but now, he’ll have to settle for seeing if the Padres can hold their 1/2-game lead for the NL wild-card. The Phillies and Rockies (1 1/2 games back) are making that very interesting. From an e-mail he sent last night:

What a frustrating weekend to be a Brewers fan. I’ve conceded the Central to the Corporate Cubs, but like I heard someone on Fox say yesterday, I think their best days are yet to come. I don’t like the fact that they sort of choked the NL Central in a rare year that both St. Louis and Houston struggled, but from it I think a lot of the young players have learned from being in a division race. Too bad for Geoff Jenkins, after being there for so many bad seasons. It would’ve been nice for him to make the playoffs while still a Brewer. … The Milwaukee area has rallied around this team; I hope they weren’t a one hit wonder.

Alexi Casilla went 0-for-4 in tonight’s 6-4 loss to the White Sox, dropping his average to .236. He had a critical at-bat in the sixth inning, with two outs, runners at the corners and Chicago leading 5-4.

Casilla tried a drag bunt, but catcher Toby Hall threw him out by a step at first base, ending the inning. Casilla has drawn plenty of criticism the past few weeks, but this time, Manager Ron Gardenhire defended him.

“It’s one of his weapons. A drag bunt, with his speed, you’ve just got to make a good bunt. He didn’t make a good bunt. It’s something that he tries to do more from the left side than from the right side. It kind of surprised us, but obviously he feels he has a good opportunity if he gets a bunt down.

“All he was doing was trying to make a play. We don’t like to get on people for trying to make plays. If he gets it done, everybody goes, ‘Wow, that was a great play.’ He just made a bad bunt, and now you say, ‘That’s a terrible play.’ You can’t do that.

“Do we put those [bunts] on? No. But do we want him to keep trying those kinds of things? Absolutely. That’s one of his weapons. That’s why he’s in the big leagues because he can run.”

Alexi Casilla returns to the lineup at second base, with Nick Punto moving to third. Jason Kubel and Brian Buscher get a break as the Twins face lefty Mark Buehrle. And look who’s getting a start at DH…

White Sox lineup: Jerry Owens CF, Josh Fields LF, Jim Thome DH, Paul Konerko 1B, Jermaine Dye RF, Juan Uribe SS, Danny Richar 2B, Andy Gonzalez 3B, Toby Hall C. Starting pitcher: LH Mark Buehrle.

Twins lineup: Jason Bartlett SS, Alexi Casilla 2B, Joe Mauer C, Torii Hunter CF, Justin Morneau 1B, Michael Cuddyer RF, Matthew LeCroy DH, Lew Ford LF, Nick Punto 3B. Starting pitcher: LH Johan Santana.

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