I almost caused a catastrophe in the clubhouse this morning.

I was talking with Justin Morneau about hitting (he did most of the talking) when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a hand extending out towards me.

I thought someone wanted to shake my hand, so I reached out to grab it. It was Michael Cuddyer, who was trying to show me the stitches on dislocated finger. “Whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Cuddyer yelped as he pulled his hand away. “Good thing I have good reflexes.”

I felt terrible.

Anyway, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has an interesting lineup in play today. One thing he likes to do use his bench early in the season. After six weeks of spring training he’s not going to stick a player on the bench and not use him. “You’ll lose a player that way,” he said. “This way, everyone feels he’s a part of this thing.”

So Tolbert gets another start, this time at short. Brendan Harris has kicked the flu bug and is back at second. And Denard Span, who was at the park at 8:15 a.m. to shag fly balls in right field, makes his major league debut.

The Twins can move into first place with a win and a Chicago loss. You can feel the drama in the air today.

Royals (3-2)

1. Joey Gathright, CF.

2. Alberto Callaspo, 2B.

3. Mark Teahen, LF

4. Jose Guillen, RF

5. Billy Butler, DH

6. Alex Gordon, 3B.

7. Ross Gload, 1B.

8. John Buck, C

9. Tony Pena, SS

Pitching: Brett Tomko

Twins (3-3)

1. Go-Go, CF.

2. Matt Tolbert, SS

3. Joe Mauer, C.

4. Justin Morneau, 1B.

5. Delmon Young, LF.

6. Jason Kubel, DH

7. Brendan Harris, 2B.

8. Mike Lamb, 3B.

9. Denard Span, RF.

Pitching: Boof Bonser

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