Twins lefthander Glen Perkins has left the team to be with his wife, Alisha, who has gone into labor. If labor takes more than a day, Perkins may be scratched from his start on Monday against the Yankees.

The Twins were unsure this morning who would start tomorrow if that happened. Boof Bonser is unavailable after pitching last night. Nick Blackburn could be moved up, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn’t ready to commit to that. “We would have to ad-lib,” he said. 

Carlos Gomez is getting a mental health day.  Justin Morneau asked for a DH day and got it. Gardenhire likes Everett’s glovework at short,  adding that Everett has, “enough,” arm to make throws. And, as evidenced by the hit and run yesterday, Everett can be functional at the plate.

Spotted a couple Twins fans here with brooms…. 

Update: Oh, the Royals’ Zack Greinke has dropped the appeal of his suspension for last week’s dust-up with the White Sox and began serving his five-game ban today.

Lineups

Twins (65-51): 1. Denard Span, CF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, DH. 5. Jason Kubel, RF. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Mike Lamb, 1B. 8. Brian Buscher, 3B. 9. Adam Everett, SS. Pitching: Scott Baker.

Royals (53-64: 1. Mike Aviles, SS. 2. Mitch Meier, CF. 3. Mark Teahen, RF. 4. Jose Guillen, LF. 5. Billy Butler, DH. 6. Alex Gordon, 3B. 7. Ross Gload, 1B. 8. John Buck, C. 9. Jason Smith, 2B. Pitching: Gil Meche.Â

 I didn’t get a chance to write about Francisco Liriano’s outing in the ink-on-paper version because the Twins being ticked off at Zack Greinke was a better angle. So here goes.

He did look more comfortable on the mound than his outing at the Dome last Sunday. He threw some really nasty sliders but seemed to be a little off with his control. He topped out at 93 miles an hour on the radar gun.

“He’s not there yet,” Royals catcher John Buck said when asked if Liriano is back to 2006 form. “Liriano was a freak before he got hurt. He was throwing 98, and there was not a comfortable at-bat against him. Now, he’s still finding it. I’m sure he’ll get a little better. Will he ever get back to where he was? He was throwing 92-mph sliders before he got hurt.”

Buck is right, but in 5.2 innings, Liriano gave up three runs on six hits with two walks and FIVE strikeouts. The slider isn’t as hard as before but still has bite.

Liriano had a chance to get out of the sixth on Saturday with no damage, but Mark Teahen’s two-run double ended his night.

“I just tried to make some perfect pitches,” he said of the sixth inning. “I rushed. But I threw better than last time. ”

I agree. Hopefully he continues to settle in and can give the Twins at least seven solid innings to help the bullpen.

“I think the long inning might have gotten to him when he had to go back out there,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He had a good breaking ball. His fastball was in and out. I think he had a better change up and breaking ball than fastball.”

Righthander Pat Neshek has begun a throwing program in Fort Myers, Fla. The Twins officially don’t expect him back this year, but if he works his way up to getting on a mound late this month and says, `I feel g-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-eat,” then the Twins will consider using him down the stretch. The big hurdle will be to find him work, since minor league seasons will completed by then.

If he’s not ready, he will continue workouts and pitch to batters in instructional league in October, then get ready for spring training 2009. I tend to believe that this is what will happen.

I spoke with Michael Cuddyer today. He’s bummed out about his broken foot but isn’t giving up on the season. He’s been told that, in most cases, it takes 4-6 weeks for the bone to heal. Even if its for the last two weeks of the season, Cuddy wants to try to contribute.

Lineup

Twins (64-51): 1. Denard Span, RF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Adam Everett, SS. 9.  Carlos Gomez, CF. Pitching: Francisco Liriano.

Royals (53-63): 1. Mike Aviles, SS. 2. David DeJesus, CF. 3. Billy Butler, SS. 4. Jose Guillen, LF. 5. Miguel Olivo, DH. 6. Alex Gordon, 3B. 7. Mark Teahen, RF. 8. John Buck, C. 9. Esteban German, 2B. Pitching: Zack Greinke.

A few leftover things from last night:

Here’s more on Cuddy’s injury. Garrett Jones apparently got a hold of a 95 mile an hour fastball and ripped it to right. Cuddyer tried to jump out of the way but the ball nailed him. The break is in the middle of the foot.

Cuddyer will be seen by Twins physician Dr. John Steubs on Monday. I was told it’s too early to assume that Cuddyer’s season is over.

Kevin Slowey hasn’t allowed a first-inning run in 18 straight starts, which breaks Camilo Pascual’s club record in 1963. I thought Slowey was headed for a strong outing but he got bogged down in the middle innings.

The Twins walked a season-high eight times last night - which means they should have scored more runs than they did. Carlos Gomez’s two bases-loaded strikeouts were huge. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he had to have the, “calm down,” talk with Gomez after the second strikeout. And I wasn’t a big fan of Gomez bunting twice with the bases loaded, but Gardy didn’t seem to mind.

Gomez now has 23 stolen bases, matching the team-high that Jason Bartlett had last season.

Joe Nathan had to sweat it out in the ninth a little bit but picked up his 31st save. He has given up a least one hit in each of his past four outings.

Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer, on a rehab stint at Class AAA Rochester,  was hit in the left foot with a line drive during tonight’s game, suffering a fractured second metatarsal bone

He will remain in Rochester tomorrow before returning to the Twin Cities for further evaluation.

Here’s how it was explained to me in an e-mail from Rochester beat writer Jim Mandelaro of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

A freak play in the second inning Friday night sidelined Red Wings outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who was playing his fourth game of a rehab stint from the Minnesota Twins.

Cuddyer drew a walk from Indianapolis pitcher Ross Ohlendorf and was leaning off first base when Garrett Jones lined a hard shot off Cuddyer.

The play was ruled a single for Jones and runner’s interference charged to Cuddyer, resulting in an out.

More importantly, it forced Cuddyer to leave the game with a bruised left foot.

Of course, there will be more on this later….

Twins infielder Alexi Casilla received good news on Friday when he was examined by hand specialist Dr. Tom Varecka. His torn right thumb ligament has improved enough to to believe he can return in a couple weeks or so.

He will wear a splint on his right thumb for another week, then resume baseball activities. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he doesn’t expect Casilla to have to go on a minor league rehab assignment. If that’s the case, and Casilla only needs a few days of work, he should be ready to go by the time the Twins begin their convention road trip on Aug. 21. 

It’s huge news for the Twins, who were worried Casilla was done for the season.

Craig Monroe has cleared waivers and has been released by the club.

Michael Cuddyer tonight is scheduled to play in his fourth game for Class AAA Rochester. He’s still on track to return to the club in time for Monday’s series opener against the Yankees.

Brendan Harris is the lineup because he’s been swinging a hot bat.

Funny moment in the clubhouse before the game. The first lineup card had Young at DH and Kubel in left, which was a mistake. Gardenhire walked out of his office to tell the players about the mistake.

Mike Lamb and Adam Everett both pretended to be relieved that Kubel wasn’t playing in the field. “Everyone can calm down, now,” Lamb said loudly. “Kubel is DH-ing.” 

Lineups

Twins (63-51):  1. Denard Span, RF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brendan Harris, 3B. 8. Adam Everett, SS. 9. Carlos Gomez, CF. Pitching: Kevin Slowey.

Royals (53-62): 1. Mike Aviles, SS. 2. Mark Teahen, RF. 3. David DeJesus, CF. 4. Jose Guillen, LF.5. Billy Butler, DH. 6. Alex Gordon, 3B.7. Miguel Olivo, C. 8. Ross Gload, 1B. 9. Esteban German, 2B. Pitching: Kyle Davies.