City officials this week asked the Cardinals to move the start time on Saturday and Sunday to the evening out of concerns about the heat. The Cardinals and MLB said no go. So we’ll be here tomorrow when the high is expected to hit 100.

Twins strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano has ordered every player to bring a bottle of water on the field during warmups. “Dehydration!” he said.

Nick Punto’s ribs are still sore, but he took 50 swings off the tee and said he feels better. He’s willing to come off the bench in an emergency but said he’s more focused on getting back on the field Sunday.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire still is thinking about starting Michael Cuddyer at second sometime this weekend. That would allow him to get the other outfielders on the field.

Bobby Keppel played high school ball in the area and will have about 40 friends and family at the game. Get this: Keppel is listed at 6-5, but he was the point guard on his high school hoops team. The front line went like 6-10, 6-8 and 6-7.

You won’t believe who the home plate umpire is today: It’s Todd Tichenor, who threw out Mike Redmond, Jason Varitek, Ron Gardenhire and Terry Francona on May 28 at the Dome.

Sorry the lineups are late. They weren’t out when we got to the press box, then I decided to watch a little batting practice. And the trip from the field to the pressbox is the longest in ball.

Twins (37-37)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Brendan Harris, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Joe Crede, 3B
8. Matt Tolbert, 2B
9. Glen Perkins, LHP

Cardinals (40-34)

1. Skip Schumaker, 2B
2. Colby Rasmus, CF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. Rick Ankiel, LF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Joe Thurston, 3B
8. Adam Wainwright, RHP
9. Tyler Greene, SS

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Game threads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.