Got in last night and found out some interesting things.

 1. Some restaurants here aren’t giving an exchange rate on U.S. dollars, which means our dollar equals their dollar. I did check online and a Canadian dollar is about .957385 US. I took a quick look at that and thought it was cool, but, as the first poster here pointed out, I was looking at this backwards. Now I’m outraged. Just kidding. Enjoy the extra 4.2615 cents. I’m not here to buy a car…

2. The Police are playing at the ACC tonight. So I’ll have to resist the King of Pain references if Rondell White tweaks something after being activated from the DL.

3. The ACC stands for Air Canada Centre.

4. Anyone read this story? Lee should be on line to face the Twins this weekend.

5. Was watching TV while working out this morning. Suddenly, there’s Justin Morneau on the screen doing a promo for the Canadian version of SportsCenter. His last line, “My goal is to win a World Series and make Canada proud. The MVP is only the beginning,” is still ringing in my ears.

It will be interesting to see how the Twins respond to White’s return to the lineup. He’s well-liked on the club and they definitely could use his bat. My concern is the length of time without seeing major league pitching. White has had more than two months of facing A-all and Rookie League pitching, so it would not surprise me if White starts off 2 for 18. He’s going to need time to get sharp at the plate.

I also want to see how Terry Ryan responds to White’s return, because White is not enough. Ryan should spend these last few days before the trade deadline looking into more deals for offense. There are some hitters out there. As tough as it is to deal with Jim Bowden, I would keep in touch with him about Dmitri Young until the end. As Joe C. pointed out today, dealing with Bowden isn’t easy.

I know uber reporter Buster Olney blogged that White’s return likely killed any chance of a deal for Mike Piazza. A Piazza deal really wasn’t in the works. The Twins showed lukewarm interest, at best, and I’ve heard through the grapevine that Piazza wasn’t fired up about playing in the Upper Midwest.

I’ve heard more than once over the years that Dmitri Young would like to play here.

Now for some minor league notes. 

Class AAA Righthander Nick Blackburn is currently mending what the staff hopes is just a tired arm, but the Twins definitely consider him to be a prospect. He’s been mortal his last two starts, but he’s still 6-1, 2.09 on the season.

 OF Denard Span is batting .350 over his last six games. His batting average, down to as low as .220, is now at .244. Torii Hunter recently had a phone conversation with Span and said Span’s head was spinning from all the hitting advice he was getting but has gotten his confidence back.

LHP Brian Duensing’s stock continues to rise. He’s 6-2 with a 3.28 ERA at Rochester. He’s hits 91-92 mph on the gun and has good off speed stuff.

The Twins are impressed with 3B Brian Buscher but would like to see a little more from him before they consider calling him up.

One Twins official told me that SS Trevor Plouffee easily is the Class AA New Britain’s best player. He’s batting .284 with 7 homers and 37 RBI. He’s does have 20 errors. From watching him in spring training, he could really field but his throws were sometimes wild. Plus, the infield at New Britain is terrible. But Plouffee is only 21, so there’s hope that he’s got more development in him.

RHP Loek Van Mil is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA at Elizabethton. He’s 22 and raw. But he’s hitting 93 on the gun. The Twins have a lot of work to do with the 7 foot, 1 inch Dutch hurler, but think of the possibilities….

RHP Michael Allen is 3-1, 1.75 at E-Town with 36 strikeouts in 36 innings. The Twins feel they can develop him into an impact power arm…

Don’t know if anyone noticed, but RHP Kyle Waldrop was demoted to Fort Myers after going 3-6, 5.34 at New Britain. Some with the organization say that Waldrop was overmatched, but others aren’t pleased that the 25th overall pick in the 2004 draft is not using his talents.

That all (that’s enough) for now. Will have a podcast up later today.

The latest chapter in the saga that is Rondell White’s comeback:

White’s game with the Twins’ rookie team was shortened to four innings by rain. White, the DH on Saturday, was 1 for 2. He will play again today.

Mike Redmond’s knuckle is still very sore but he can play in a pinch.

Lineups

Angels: 1. Figgins, 3B. 2. Cabrera, SS. 3. Guerrero, DH. 4. Anderson, LF. 5. Matthews, Jr. CF. 6. Kotchman, 1B. 7. Izturis, 2B. 8. Molina, C. 9. Willits, RF. Pitching: Weaver.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Morneu, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. Jones, DH. 8. McDonald, RF. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Bonser.

 

As you know, Cuddy is on the 15-day DL with strained ligaments in his thumb. He says he plans to be ready when the 15 days are up, but I’m not so sure. How will his thumb feel the first time he hits one off the fists?

Darnell McDonald is here. He played one game in the Dome in 2004. One. So he was being fed a steady diet of fly balls before batting practice. It’s quite a challenge to come right in and try to field balls off this roof.

Mike Redmond is another issue. He said he popped a knuckle in his left hand and is very sore. He can play in a pinch, but he’s limited.

At least Torii Hunter is back in the lineup.

Lineups

Angels: 1. Figgins, 3B. 2. Cabrera, SS. 3. Vlad, DH. 4. Anderson, LF. 5. Matthews, CF. 6. Kotchman, 1B. 7. Izturis, 2B. 8. Napoli, C. 9. Willits, RF. Pitching: Lackey.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. McDonald, RF. 8. Jones, DH. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Silva.

 

 

 

Torii is back in the lineup.

Three one-run losses are tough to take, so it was predictable that the clubhouse would be silent after Thursday’s game.

“They missed some opportunities,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said of the Twins, “but they won’t miss them the time we come here, I guarantee that.”

The Twins need the run of all runs right now, starting this weekend against the Angels.

Torii Hunter (sore left hammy) said after the game that he will be in the lineup on Friday against L.A.

Michael Cuddyer is having a MRI done on his right thumb. We should know more tomorrow.

Mike Redmond popped a knuckle during the game but kept playing (he had no choice).

Some things didn’t go the Twins way Thursday.

Carlos Guillen DID drop the throw from second base late in the game, but infielders usually get the benefit of the doubt as long as they attempt to pull the ball out of the glove.

It looked like Morneau was going get hit with the throw anyway, so I dispute the interference call. But he was thrown out at home plate anyway. The problem was that the wild pitch usually deflects left or right when it hits the backstop, not straight back. Bad bounce.

The strike zone floated during the game, that’s why Nathan was jawing with the home plate umpire after the tenth.

The Twins were shut out at home in a three game series for the first time since 2004.

Jason Bartlett has committed 39 percent of the Twins’ total errors this season.

I was in the clubhouse for all of five minutes this morning but found out a lot of stuff.

Torii Hunter is laid out on the trainer’s table and will not play because of a sore left hamstring.

On the same play Hunter was hurt, Michael Cuddyer jammed a thumb while sliding into second. It’s swollen up pretty bad and he may not play.

Luis Castillo hasn’t  arrived at the park yet, so no one knows his condition.

The Tigers have called up Timo Perez after Marcus Thames blew a hammy while making a great catch in the eighth inning.

 Joe C. has the game today, but I wanted to offer some thoughts after last night’s game.

Santana threw 118 pitches last night, the most since he threw 120 at the White Sox in April of 2006 - 50 starts ago.

Santana struck out Placido Polanco in the eighth, the first time Polanco has fanned against Santana in 19 at-bats, which were the most at-bats without a strikeout against Santana among active players.

Detroit is the first team to win three times against Santana in the same season. Santana has lost two of those games, with the third a no-decision. 

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