Twins DH Jason Kubel left the game in the first inning with a left knee contusion after fouling a ball off that area in his first at-bat. Brendan Harris is now the DH… 

Check on the first baseman. Welcome the latest rookie. Fill out the rotation later.

The Twins are trying to play with three-fifths of their rotation on the disabled list and Justin Morneau out with an ear infection while trying to prove they haven’t given up on the season.

“We have too many guys in there with too much pride not to play hard,” outfielder Michael Cuddyer said.

But a loss tonight means they have lost six straight series.

Morneau is being examined by the Rangers’ doctor. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he hopes that this infection is not as bad as the one that bothered Denard Span for most of June.

Philip Humber has arrived and is available out of the bullpen. Gardy acknowledged that Armando Gabino was first in line to be called up, but they needed a rested arm for today, and that was Humber.

Humber sounds like a different guy. He talked about the team dealing with Riccardo Ingram’s ilness - he left the club earlier in the season to have a medical condition taken care of - has forced him to re-think his priorities. He said he’s here to fill any role they want him to.

Francisco Liriano’s velocity was down a little bit last night, and pitching coach Rick Anderson said he had nothing on his pitches. Liriano was checked out after the game and the Twins believe it’s nothing more than a tired arm. They hope two weeks of conditioning will help.

The Rangers have traded for Pudge Rodriguez, but he’s not in tonight’s lineup. He is available.

Lineups

Twins (56-62)

1. Deanrd Span, RF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Jason Kubel, DH
5. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
6. Joe Crede, 3B
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Carl Pavano, RHP

Rangers (67-50)

1. Julio Borbon, LF
2. Michael Young, 3B
3. Josh Hamilton, RF
4. Marlon Byrd, CF
5. David Murphy, DH
6. Ian Kinsler, 2B
7. Hank Blalock, 1B
8. Taylor Teagarden, C
9. Omar Vizquel, SS

Pitching: Scott Feldman, RHP

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 5:59 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.