While the Twins have inexperienced hitters in their lineup like Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez (and Matt Tolbert, when he plays). But, overall, they are good enough to hit good pitching a few times.

So it was impressive to see how they made adjustments against Tigers lefty Kenny Rogers.

Rogers retired the first 11 Twins batters he faced using all his pitches but effectively using his changeup in particular. One change floated in at 71 miles an hour. 

Twins players realized that they needed to look for the change and take it to the opposite field. Nick Punto’s two-run double in the fifth came off a change that was up in the strike zone.

Craig Monroe said that hitting coach Joe Vavra encouraged them to think up the middle and opposite field at the plate.

“It says a lot about Joe and having a plan and what he believes would work,” Monroe said n unsolicited response.

If the Twins can make in-game adjustments like they did on Sunday, they’ll have success against pitchers better than Rogers.

Five game winning streak. Seven straight against A.L. Central opponents. First place? Enjoy.

For those of you with absolutely nothing to do tonight - and who are brave enough to see my face on television and still not have to sleep with the light on - I will be a guest on Rosen’s Sports Sunday tonight. The show begins at 10:35. I’m not sure when I’ll be on, but I will be on if you want to check it out.

2:09 p.m. update: The Twins have announced that righthander Kevin Slowey will be called up in time to start Thursday in Chicago. He’ll replace righthander Scott Baker who continues to have problems with his right groin muscle.

The Twins have the option of pushing Baker back to Saturday - when they’ll need a fifth starter again - or to put him on the DL if they feel he needs more time to heal. If he lands on the DL, someone like lefthander Glen Perkins could be called up.

Baker on Monday will have an MRI exam on his strained right groin muscle. The Twins will have a better idea of how to proceed with the injury at that point.

Carlos Gomez is back in the lineup today. He missed Saturday’s game with a bump on his head and a headache after being hit in the head by a throw while stealing a base on Friday.

Talked to Curtis Granderson before the game. Granderson and Pat Neshek have battled each other since Neshek pitched at Butler and Granderson was at Illinois-Chicago. Granderson got the best of Neshek on Saturday with a homer.

“The first three pitches I really didn’t see that well,” Granderson said. “Then I started to see him better as the at-bat went along.”

Neshek grimaced when Granderson’s comment was relayed to him: `Argh! I knew that at-bat was taking way too long.”

Granderson: “He’s gotten me a few times and I’ve gotten him a few times. I hope we both stay in the same division because it’s a challenge to face him.”

Granderson is 2 for 4 against Neshek, including the homer on Saturday.

Right-handed hitters are batting .341 against Kenny Rogers. With that in mind, here are today’s lineups.

Detroit (14-17): 1. Curtis Granderson, CF. 2. Placido Polanco, 2B. 3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B. 4. Magglio Ordonez, DH. 5. Carlos Guillen, 3B. 6. Marcus Thames, RF. 7. Edgar Renteria, SS. 8. Ivan Rodriguez, C. 9. Jacque Jones, LF. Pitching: Kenny Rogers.

Twins (15-14): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Brendan Harris. 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6. Craig Monroe, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Matt Tolbert, 3B. Nick Punto, SS. Pitching: Boof Bonser.

Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez left tonight’s game in the fifth inning after being hit in the head with the ball as he stole second base.

The throw from Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez nailed Gomez on the left side of his helmet as he arrived at the bag. Gomez grabbed his head but stayed on the ground for a few minutes while being attended to.

I’ve never seen Twins physicians Dr. Dan Buss or Dr. Vijay Eyunni on the field during an injury, but they rushed out to make sure nothing serious was wrong. Gomez eventually rose to his feet and was carted off the field.

Update: The Twins report that Gomez has been checked out by Twins doctors and is O.K. He did not lose consciousness and will not, as of now, undergo further testing. 

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 Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has left the club after learning on Thursday that his brother, Mike, passed away unexpectedly while at his home in Oklahoma. Mike Gardenhire was 55.

While Ron Gardenhire’s return date has not been determined yet, he will miss the weekend series against the Tigers. It’s possible he could return during the midweek series in Chicago against the White Sox.

Scott Ullger will manage the club in Gardenhire’s absence.

Sorry for the delay. Busy pre-game. Adam Everett is back.

Tigers (14-15): 1. Granderson, CF. 2. Polanco, 2B. 3. Sheffield, DH. 4. Ordonez, RF. 5. Cabrera, 1B. 6. Guillen, 3B. 7. Renteria, SS. 8. I-Rod, C. 9. Jones, LF. Pitching: Galarraga.

Twins (13-14): 1. Gomez, CF. 2. Harris, 2B. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Cuddyer, RF. 6. Kubel, DH. 7. Young, LF. 8. Lamb, 3B. 9. Everett, SS. Pitching: Hernandez.

Check out this Nick Cafardo piece in today’s Boston Globe.

This should raise an eyebrow among those of you who make the annual trek to spring training. 

I think City of Palms Park is nice facility. But I also think that a team shouldn’t have to train in one place then travel a few miles to play spring game. It makes sense for the Red Sox to have a facility like the Twins’, where the main stadium and all the fields are in one place. But it stinks that they can point to the out clause in their lease and threaten to leave if they don’t get what they want.

The economy there, like everywhere, is not in good shape. That’s just one indication, but I wonder how Lee County and the city of Fort Myers can come up with a proposal to keep the Red Sox in town.

Fort Myers used to be Dullsville USA, but it has grown so much in recent years that I think it’s big enough for a third team for spring training. Going down to one team would help the Twins sell out every home game but travel would be an even bigger pain. I hope there’s a solution to this issue.

In case your worried that this somehow has negative Twins implications, don’t be. The Twins recently had their lease with Lee County extended through 2012  The Twins have a great relationship with the county. The sides have mapped out a schedule of improvements to the facility over the next few years.

The Twins are the county’s team. The Red Sox are the city’s team.

Let’s stay with the stadium angle. SI has released (I’m not exactly sure when) a survery of the best ballparks in the league. Predictably, the Dome finished in the bottom third in the overall rankings - and was ranked 29th in atmosphere, better only than Florida.

I don’t have to go into all the negatives about the Dome but I wonder where the Twins will rank two years from now when Insert-Naming-Rights-Here Field is open.

It also got me thinking about my favorite ballparks in the league. I’m biased because I also factor in pressbox amenities and how fast I can get to the clubhouses after the games.  But here are my five favorite ballparks.

1. Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. If the Twins could copy it - and put a retractable roof on it - I’d love it. Cozy. Comfortable. And it will look even better after the current renovation is completed.

2. Safeco Field in Seattle. Great views of downtown Seattle and the Puget Sound. Spacious pressbox. I blow off the media dining here for the concessions. And I don’t mind the trains blowing whistles as they roll by the park.

3. Angel Stadium of Anaheim. They nailed the renovation of this former ugly ballpark. Best place to watch a game. Best place to watch fans watching the game. Comfortable pressbox. Nice scoreboard. Tired of Rally Monkey, though.

4.  Camden Yards in Baltimore. I’ve been able to cover games here when it has been packed and empty and I think they did a really fine job with this park. The White Sox could have had a similar park,  but ol’ Jerry Reinsdorf was in his, `Yankees West,’ mode and nixed it.

5. Yankee Stadium and Fenway Pawk. You have to fight through the crowd at Fenway after games to get to the clubhouses. You have to work a little bit to travel to Yankee Stadium, although it’s not that bad. And you see a puddle of water in the tunnel to the visitor’s dugout at Fenway and wonder how long it’s been there. But, when you get to these places at 2:30 in the afternoon, when the stadiums are relatively empty and there’s no music playing, you swear you can hear the ghosts talking to you.

I have not been to the new parks in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Diego or St. Louis, so I don’t know what I’m missing.

And I meant to write Fenway Pawk. As in pawk your caw by the hawbaugh and buy some chowdah.

One more thing. My latest podcast is now up. The subject is the Twins’ offensive offense.