Glen Perkins still isn’t feeling well, so Francisco Liriano will start Thursday’s game against the Yankees. Liriano last pitched on Saturday, so he’ll be on his regular four days of rest.

Now there are rumblings that Nick Blackburn might be needed to start Friday’s series opener against the White Sox because Perkins might not be ready to go by then. Stay tuned….

Pitching coach Rick Anderson was pleased to see Anthony Swarzak not give in to Yankee hitters. Yes, he could have gotten the ball down more, but he didn’t nibble at the plate. Another good sign for the rookie righthander.
“There’s no hole in that lineup,” Swarzak said. “There are a lot of veteran guys in there and they take the close pitches and they foul off the ones that they can foul off with two strikes, and they wait for a pitch they can handle.

“Absolutely the most patient lineup I’ve faced.”

Other notes:

Bobby Keppel continues to look like the real deal. He has thrown 11.1 scoreless innings since being called up from Class AAA Rochester. Unlike Luis Ayala, Keppel throws a real sinker.

Four straight baserunners had swiped a base off of Joe Mauer before he gunned down Brett Gardner with a perfect throw in the sixth.

Mauer hit his first homer since June 20 and his fifth off of left-handed pitcher.

In addition to leading the A.L. with a .388 batting average. Mauer also leads with a 1.118 OPS.

The Twins, in fact, have four players in the top 24 in OPS: Justin Morneau is third with .984. Jason Kubel is 14th at .893. And Michael Cuddyer is 24th at .869.

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