Justin Morneau is back in the Twin Cities after being released from a Florida hospital today. He’s supposed to swing by the clubhouse, but no one has seen him yet.

[UPDATE]: Morneau has been to the clubhouse and was examined by one of the team doctors. He will undergo another series of tests Tuesday, but it’s unclear if he’s on the fast track to the lineup yet.  

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game that Morneau could play later in the week. We’ll see about that…

Lineups

Toronto: 1. Wells, CF. 2. Rios, RF. 3. Stairs, 1B. 4. Glaus, 3B. 5. Thomas, DH. 6. Zaun, C. 7. Hill, 2B. 8. Lind, LF. 9. McDonald, SS. Pitching: Halladay.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, DH. 4. Cuddyer, RF. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. Redmond, C. 8. Cirillo, 1B. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Slowey.

 

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Joe C. is on the road trip this week, but you’ll hear from me in the paper on Friday (off-day piece) and Sunday (minor league notes).

I’m in Chicago spending time with my brother and sister. Because of my eye surgeries last year, we were unable to go through the house and re-organize things after our mother died in March 2006, so this was the chance to do that.

I have found some really old stuff, including a third-grade report card in which I was ripped for not paying attention in class . There were some things wrapped in newspaper dated Aug. 2, 1988. Wow.

I’m not going to lie. Two things I’ve been on the lookout for among the hundreds of pounds of stuff we’ve tossed out or plan to donate: 1. An insurance policy we didn’t know about. 2. OLD BASEBALL CARDS. There’s still the attic to go through…

Even though the Sox and Cubs are struggling, baseball talk is running wild here as the Crosstown Classic nears this weekend. Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has ripped his team all week. He just opened up on them again today after losing an afternoon game to the Marlins. The Cubs are trying to stabilize things after a tumultuous year, and have traded catcher Michael Barrett to the Padres for former Twin Rob Bowen. If I have time, I may try to invade the press box Friday. I haven’t talked to Jacque Jones since he left the Twins and I’ve got to make sure A.J. Pierzynski doesn’t think I’m ignoring him, I didn’t talk to him the last two times the Sox were at the Dome.

The soccer fans who read this will be pleased to note that my brother and I have tickets Thursday for the USA-Canada game in the semis of the Gold Cup. I would stay for the finals (It’s gotta be USA-Mexico) but I’ve got to get back to town.

That’s it for now. I blog and podcast when I return from the Windy City. 

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I know it’s a shameless plug, but I’m filling in for P.A. and Jeff Dubay on Monday from 9-12 on the FAN. Of course, I’ll talk Twins…

As of now, we’ll have Twins director of baseball operations Ron Antony on around 11:05. He’s in Rochester checking out prospects, so we can ask him about  Matt Tolbert, Matt Garza, Matt Moses and Nick Blackburn.

We’re trying to get my colleague at the Strib, Jerry Zgoda, on to talk about the U.S. Open.

Chris Hawkey will burglarize the show to talk about his experiences at Grandma’s marathon on Saturday. Phone lines will be open when we’re not having guests, so feel free to call in. That includes soccer fans. Maybe my man Amos Magee will call in to update us on the Thunder….

Torii Hunter has left the Twins-Brewers game after getting hit in the left hand by a pitch in the first inning. Hunter tried to stay in the game, but the T.V. cameras showed that his hand was swelling up considerably.

Lew Ford replaced Hunter. We’ll update the blog once we learn about his condition.

[UPDATE: Torii only has a bruised left hand. They won’t even have X-Rays taken. He’s listed as day-to-day, so the Twins dodged one there.]

 After getting hit in the head twice this year and bouncing back each time, it would be strange to see him miss games because he was hit elsewhere. But if the ball finds the right spot it can do a lot of damage.

Now back to regular programming…. 

Was busy before the game doing interviews, doing some, `inside-ing,’ and other stuff. Sorry this is late.

Twins have 17 of their next 21 games on the road, including series against the Mets, Yankees and Tigers. Pack a lunch.

Jason Tyner got a hit on Saturday, so he started today.

 

Brewers: 1. Hart, RF. 2. Hardy, SS. 3. Braun, 3B. 4. Fielder, 1B. 5. Hall, CF. 6. Estrada, C. 7. Jenkins, LF. 8. Graffanino, 1B. 9. Counsell, 2B. Pitching: Suppan.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Mauer, DH. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Redmond, C. 7. Tyner, LF. 8. Cirillo, 3B. 9. Bartlett, SS. Pitching: Slowey.

Kubel is DH-ing today with Lew Ford in left field. Scott Baker probably will get one more start…..and it better be a good one.

Haven’t heard how Rondell did today yet..

One minor league note: Chris Parmalee, the Twins first-round pick last year, hit two homers, one a grand slam, and drove in six runs on Friday for Class A Beloit.

Lineups

Brew Crew: 1. Corey Hart, RF. 2. J.J. Hardy, SS. 3. Ryan Braun, 3B. 4. Prince, 1B. 5. Do-it-all Bill Hall, CF. 6. Johnny Estrada, DH. 7. Geoff Jenkins, LF. 8. Damian Miller, C. 9. Craig Counsell, 2B. Pitching: Dave Bush.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, DH. 7. Ford, RF. 8. Punto, 3B. 9. Bartlett, SS. Pitching: Bonser 

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