The Twins will face Orioles lefthander Garrett Olson today, and with a day game after a night game, Joe Mauer is getting a breather, with Mike Redmond catching and batting third.

Asked if it’s tough sitting Mauer, especially with him swinging so well, Gardenhire said, yes, but that’s also why he’s swinging so well — his legs and hands feel good because he’s not getting overworked.

(*) One lineup surprise is Mike Lamb getting the start against a lefthander. Lamb is batting just .091 (2-for-22) against lefties, but Matt Macri has been shipped back to Class AAA Rochester, and Gardenhire said he hasn’t seen enough of Brendan Harris at third base.

With Lamb starting to hit better overall, Gardenhire hopes he starts hitting lefties, too. Lamb entered the year with a .268 average against lefthanders.

Also, lefthanded hitters are batting .302 against Olson this year.

(*) Scott Baker’s pitch limit coming off the DL today will be about 85-90, Gardenhire said, depending on how the righthander feels.

(*) Vikings coach Brad Childress was in the Twins’ clubhouse this morning, talking with Gardenhire, who seemed to enjoy the visit very much. A few of us were waiting for Gardenhire’s pregame media session, and Childress was struck that Gardenhire faces the press twice a day.

Yes, but there are trade-offs to a 16-game schedule compared to a 162-game schedule.

“He says, if they lose, he takes a beating for a week,” Gardenhire said. “I said if I lose, I take one for about eight hours.”

(*) I know a segment of our readers are excited about today’s draft. La Velle is our point man on that story, and he’s traveling ahead to Chicago today, but we’ll do our best to keep you covered as the picks unfold. Check out La Velle’s excellent draft preview from today’s editions.

Orioles (28-30)

1. Brian Roberts, 2B

2. Nick Markakis, RF

3. Melvin Mora, DH

4. Aubrey Huff, 3B

5. Kevin Millar, 1B

6. Luke Scott, LF

7. Adam Jones, CF

8. Guillermo Quiroz, C

9. Freddie Bynum, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Garrett Olson

Twins (31-28)

1. Carlos Gomez, CF

2. Alexi Casilla, 2B

3. Mike Redmond, C

4. Justin Morneau, 1B

5. Michael Cuddyer, RF

6. Craig Monroe, DH

7. Delmon Young, LF

8. Mike Lamb, 3B

9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: RH Scott Baker

Metrodome: First pitch: 12:10 p.m.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 11:10 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.