CLEVELAND — Michael Cuddyer will start as the Twins’ designated hitter, as they begin a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians tonight at Progressive Field.

Cuddyer has shown the Twins he can play through the pain in his left foot, which he broke on Aug. 8. Cuddyer has been assured he won’t re-injure himself by running, so it just comes down to managing the pain.

Cuddyer returned from the disabled list Saturday and went 1-for-2 as a pinch-hitter against Baltimore this weekend. He gives the Twins another veteran righthanded hitter, as they’re about to face three lefthanded pitchers in this series against the Indians.

Update (7:25 p.m.): An update on the pitching rotation, pasted directly from my notebook:

Scott Baker, Glen Perkins and Nick Blackburn remain on schedule to face the White Sox, Sept. 23-25 at the Metrodome. Gardenhire doesn’t foresee a change.

He and pitching coach Rick Anderson have weighed their options and decided its best to stay status quo.

Francisco Liriano is scheduled to face Tampa Bay on Sunday. They don’t want to bring him back on three day’s rest to pitch Sept. 25.

They could skip Liriano on Sunday and let him face Chicago on Sept. 23. But to do that, they’d either need Perkins to pitch on short rest Sunday — something they oppose — or a new starter.

Gardenhire said it’s not worth sacrificing the team’s chances Sunday.

“There’s not really much we can do,” he said.

(Apologies, but I got busy and didn’t get a chance to post that earlier.)

Twins (82-67)

1. Denard Span, RF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, DH
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Brendan Harris, 3B
8. Nick Punto, SS
9. Carlos Gomez, CF

Starting pitcher: RH Scott Baker

Indians (72-77)

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. David Dellucci, LF
3. Shin-Soo Choo, RF
4. Jhonny Peralta, SS
5. Travis Hafner, DH
6. Kelly Shoppach, C
7. Michael Aubrey, 1B
8. Andy Marte, 3B
9. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B

Starting pitcher: LH Scott Lewis (1-0, 0.00)

Progressive Field. First pitch: 6:05 p.m.

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