Joe C. gets his wish, sort of.  Denard Span is leading off and playing in center field tonight as the Twins give the super-scuffling Carlos Gomez a night off. 

 “He really fought it last night,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “I need to play the other young man (Span) anyway,  so I figured this would be a good time for him to sit and watch a baseball game.”

Matt Tolbert is in for Brendan Harris at second and is batting second. I’ll have the full lineup in about 90 minutes, after the clubhouse opens and Gardy does his presser.

Meanwhile, I’d like to point out that John Smoltz has now joined the 3,000 strikeout club . Of the 16 members, only one player who is officially retired is not in the Hall of Fame - Bert Blyleven.

I’ve voted for Bert for The Hall annually. No one has had to twist my arm about his candidacy. Many of the managers and coaches I’ve covered since 1994 who faced Bert said he belongs. Bob Boone used to say that Blyleven put so much spin on his curveball that it would make an incredible buzzing sound as it neared the plate. Opponents didn’t want to face him.

And the strikeouts aren’t the only reason why I think Blyleven should be in.

Lineups

Twins (10-10): Denard Span, CF. 2. Matt Tolbert, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5.  Delmon Young, LF. 6. Jason Kubel, RF. 7. Craig Monroe, DH. 8. Mike Lamb, 3B. 9. Nick Punto, SS. Pitching: Boof Bonser.

Athletics (12-9): 1. Kurt Suzuki, C. 2. Daric Barton, 1B. 3. Mark Ellis, 2B. 4. Mike Sweeney, DH. 5. Jack Cust, LF. 6. Emil Brown, RF. 7. Bobby Crosby, SS. 8. Ryan Sweeney, CF.  9. Donnie Murphy, 3B. Pitching: Chad Gaudin.

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