Rondell White is working out in the outfield, chasing fly balls hit by coach Jerry White, with Rick Stelmaszek, Torii Hunter and strength coach Perry Castellano observing. White’s in the lineup as a DH, but he’s still trying to make himself available as an outfielder.

Brian Buscher is expected to be released from the hospital today after having his infected leg worked on. Twins trainers said team doctor Dr. John Steubs is calling the condition an abscess. Buscher is expected to be out two weeks - you can’t just start physical activity and risk another infection.

Couple things from last night.

1. The Twins still don’t know how umpires could make Justin Morneau return to second base after ruling that his fifth-inning drive hit the top of the wall. They were told that the Royals stopped playing after the ball hit the wall, but that’s not true. Emil Brown grabbed the ball and made a crappy throw into the infield. That’s why Morneau went to third.

2. Johan Santana is having his annual fingernail problems. He said it wasn’t a factor in his pitching, and claimed it was worse two weeks ago. That’s when he threw that gem in Cleveland…

Tommy Watkins should be in uniform by game time.

 

Twins: 1. Casilla, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Cuddyer, RF. 5. Morneau, 1B. 6. Hunter, CF. 7. Kubel, LF. 8. White. DH. 9. L-Rod, 3B. Pitching: Garza.

Royals: 1. DeJesus, CF. 2. German, 2B. 3. Teahen, RF. 4. Butler, DH. 5. Gload, 1B. 6.  Gordon, 3B. 7. Pena, SS. 8. Gathright, LF. 9. LaRue, C. Pitching: Davies.  

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Brian Buscher’s right leg infection worsened on Wednesday, so he’s been sent to the Twin Cities to be hospitalized. He’ll be hooked up to an i.v. so he can get medicine in him to attack the infection.

Meanwhile, the Twins have called up utility player Tommy Watkins from Class AAA Rochester to replace Buscher on the roster. Watkins is batting .272 with 8 homers and 43 RBI for the Red Wings. The immediate reaction is, `what about Matt Tolbert,” Gardy said he asked about Tolbert and was told he’s not mentally ready to handle things up here.

Watkins will be in uniform on Thursday. The Twins don’t have to make a move to put him on the 40-man roster because they never replaced Jeff Cirillo and Luis Castillo.

Justin Morneau is able to play despite a sore right shin after fouling a ball off of it on Monday. Rondell White is not ready to play the outfield yet and is not in the starting lineup because Redmond has had success against Perez and Mauer needs to DH so he can catch tomorrow.

Lineups:

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

Royals: 1. DeJesus, CF. 2. Grudzielanek, 2B. 3. Teahen, RF. 4. Butler, DH. 5. Gload, 1B. 6. German, 3B. 7. Brown, LF. 8. Buck, C. 9. Pena, SS. Pitching: Perez.

Still waiting to hear if Brian Buscher will have to have his leg drained. I’ve got to imagine that this kid wants to cash in on the great opportunity he has.

The high here is 96. My car temp hit 103. Enough stated.

The real reason I wanted to write was to give props to Twins fans who have traveled down here this week. It’s not the mass of thousands who come down here for weekend series, but I got to Kauffman Stadium at 2:20 this afternoon, and Twins fans were tailgating in the parking lot! That’s hardcore in this heat….

A family from Rochester pulled alongside me as I walked to the entrance, called me over and told me they enjoyed the blogs. That was a nice surprise. And I’ve seen fans walking around the Country Club Plaza. 

I leave you with a stat: The Twins are 10-22 when Justin Morneau doesn’t get a hit. Be back later with lineups….

At 9:25 p.m. a long bank of lights behind home plate and the JumboTron scoreboard in left field went out, forcing the Twins-Royals game to be delayed. Twins righthander Juan Rincon was pitching to Billy Butler when there was a loud pop before both went out. The sound system popped off for a moment too.

So we’re just sitting and waiting….. 

Kansas City Power and Light has reported that a, `power drop,’ took place outside Kauffman Stadium. The breakers are being re-set inside the stadium, and the game is expected to resume shortly.

The temperature hit 96 degrees this afternoon with a heat index of 106. And it’s still smoking on the field. Forecasts call for similar temperatures the rest of the week, so Thursday afternoon’s game should be interesting. I’m going to risk getting beat up in the press box when I open the window in front of me at game time. Gotta hear the sounds of baseball….

Brian Buscher is out of the lineup with an infected leg. He fouled a ball off of it in Cleveland and was diagnosed as having a bruise at the time.  But now it looks like a little alien is trying to escape out of this leg. He may need to have it drained…

Gardy has adjusted the lineup in order to get some offense going. Basically, remove Jason Tyner from recent lineups and move everyone up one spot. So, yes, Mauer is batting second and Morneau fourth.

The Twins and Royals will observe a moment of silence before the game in memory of those affected by the bridge collapse.

Twins: 1. Bartlett, SS. 2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. White, DH. 8. L-Rod, 3B. 9. Casilla, SS. Pitching: Boof.

Royals: 1. DeJesus, CF. 2. Gruzielanek, 2B. 3. Teahen, RF. 4. Butler, DH. 5. Gload, 1B. 6. Gordon, 3B. 7. Buck, C. 8. Gathright, LF. 9. Pena, SS. Pitching: Floyd Bannister’s kid.

Before the series began, I predicted that this game would be the crucial one of the four because of Fausto Carmona.

The Twins’ goal today is to try to lay off Carmona’s incredible sinker and make him throw a lot of pitches early. If you see a couple 10-pitch innings early, the Twins will be in trouble.

Indians: 1. Grady, CF. 2. Lofton, LF. 3. Casey, 3B. 4. Victor, C. 5. Pronk, DH. 6. Garko, 1B. 7. Nixon, RF. 8. Jhonny, SS. 9. Jesse Barfield’s kid, 2B. Pitching: Fausto. 

Twins: 1. Tyner, LF. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Cuddy, RF. 5. Morneau, 1B. 6. Torii, CF. 7. Kubel, DH. 8. Buscher, 3B. 9. Casilla, 2B. Pitching: Baker.