Justin Morneau is a little worn down but still wants to play, so Gardy made him the DH while firing out Garrett Jones at first.

Pat Neshek has been roughed up a little lately, but Gardy and Rick Anderson said the problem is purely mechanical, not because the league is figuring him out.

In order to keep Carlos Silva on a regular schedule, Matt Garza will start Saturday in Chicago so Silva can start on Friday. The Twins will have to juggle their rotation throughout September, as there’s off days on the first three Thursdays.
Finally, it looks like Joe Mauer may be another week - which means the Twins should have DL’d him in the first place.

Lineups

Royals: 1. DeJesus, CF. 2. Grudzielanek, 2B. 3. Gload, 1B. 4. Sweeney, DH. 5. Gordon, 3B. 6. Costa, RF. 7. Buck, C. 8. Gathright, LF. 9. Pena, SS. Pitching: Bannister.

Twins: 1. Tyner, LF. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Hunter, CF. 4. Morneau, DH. 5. Cuddy, RF. 6. Redmond, C. 7. Jones, 1B. 8. L-Rod, 3B. 9. Punto, 2B. Pitching: Boof.

(yawn!)

L-Rod is here and is in the lineup.

Francisco Liriano is now throwing from 140 feet as he builds up arm strength during his comeback from Tommy John surgery. He met with the club on Friday and it was determined that he would not pitch in winter ball and spend the offseason working out in Fort Myers, Fla., where the Twins can monitor his progress.

He will throw lightly off a mound on Friday - just to get the feel for throwing downhill again. He won’t really pitch off a mound until around Nov. 1.

Scott Baker said he got several messages after his near no-no near perfecto last night. A couple friends kidded him that he should have given up a legitimate hit to lose the no-no, not a fister that fell in.

Baker’s next outing is Wednesday against Cleveland, Matt Garza will pitch on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago.

(yawn!)

Lineups

Royals: 1. Gathright, CF. 2. Grudzielanek, 2B. 3. Sweeney, DH. 4. Gordon, 3B. 5. Butler, 1B. 6. Costa, RF. 7. Brown, LF. 8. Pena, SS. 9. LaRue, C. Pitching: Duckworth.

Twins: 1. Tyner, CF. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Hunter, DH. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Cuddyer, RF. 6. Kubel, LF. 7. Redmond, C. 8. L-Rod, 3B. 9. Punto, 2B. Pitching: Silva. 

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