All Star voting update

Fan voting ends Thursday. Here's a rundown of how the Twins are doing so far ...

Justin Morneau, 2nd place (1,063,173 votes) – leader David Ortiz has 1,810,440
Joe Mauer, 3rd place (951,664 votes) – leader Ivan Rodriguez has 1,362,506 votes
Luis Castillo, 4th place (529,031 votes) – leader Placido Polanco has 1,269,717 votes
Torii Hunter, 5th place (1,085,445 votes) – third place Ichiro has 1,409,762 votes

Morneau is released, back in the Twin Cities

First baseman Justin Morneau was released from the hospital Monday morning and has returned to the Twin Cities. The team does not know whether Morneau will be at the Metrodome for tonight's game against the Blue Jays.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said a trip to the disabled list for Morneau has not been discussed. Morneau will be tested tomorrow by the team's doctors, and could return by Wednesday or Thursday if all goes well, Gardenhire said.

Joe Mauer is back in the three slot tonight as the designated hitter. Jeff Cirillo continues his stint at first base in Morneau's absence.

Also, be on the look out for some history to be made this week at the Metrodome. Frank Thomas is at 499 career home runs ...

With that, lineups -

Minnesota
Luis Castillo 2B
Jason Bartlett SS
Joe Mauer DH
Michael Cuddyer RF
Torii Hunter CF
Jason Kubel LF
Mike Redmond C
Jeff Cirillo 1B
Nick Punto 3B
Kevin Slowey P

Toronto
Vernon Wells CF
Alex Rios RF
Matt Stairs 1B
Troy Glaus 3B
Frank Thomas DH
Gregg Zaun C
Aaron Hill 2B
Adam Lind LF
John McDonald SS
Roy Halladay P

Morneau May Stay

Justin Morneau has been text-messaging his teammates from his hospital bed, but it sounds like that’s about all the Twins will see of him for a few days. Morneau remains at Memorial Hospital West in nearby Pembroke Pines, undergoing a few more tests today on his bruised right lung.

The Twins leave for Minnesota immediately after Sunday’s game, and manager Ron Gardenhire said doctors are leaning toward keeping Morneau off the team plane. The first baseman might remain in Florida for a couple more days, as a precaution.

It’s looking more like Garrett Jones will be called up as a fill-in, though Gardenhire said he and general manager Terry Ryan will wait till the team returns home before making that decision.

Today’s lineup looks odd as a result, though not as odd as they could have. Gardenhire revealed that he originally wrote in Joe Mauer’s name at first base, a position the all-star catcher hasn’t played since Class A ball in 2002. But Mauer wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea, and said he would rather catch. Luis Castillo is also out with a recurrence of his nagging leg injuries.

The lineups:

TWINS
Bartlett ss
Cirillo 1b
Mauer c
Cuddyer rf
Hunter cf
Kubel lf
Rodriguez 3b
Punto ss
Santana p

MARLINS
Carroll cf
Uggla 2b
Ramirez ss
Cabrera 3b
Willingham lf
Boone 1b
Hermida rf
Treanor cKim p

Morneau's Staying in Hospital

Justin Morneau isn’t at the ballpark tonight -- in fact, he’s not out of the hospital yet. After a lung specialist examined the Twins’ cleanup hitter on Saturday, he decided to keep Morneau overnight again.
The Twins emphasized, however, that it’s not an indication that Morneau’s condition is any worse. But since Morneau was simply going to return to the team’s hotel, the doctor decided keeping him in the hospital for observation just made more sense.
Morneau is expected to be released on Sunday, after another set of x-rays are taken, and should be able to fly home to Minnesota with the team.
Tonight’s lineups, Morneau-free for the first time this season:

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Punto 3b
Mauer c
Cuddyer rf
Hunter cf
Kubel lf
Cirillo 1b
Bartlett ss
Bonser p

MARLINS
Amezaga cf
Uggla 2b
Ramirez ss
Cabrera 3b
Jacobs 1b
Willingham lf
Hermida rf
Olivo cOlsen p

No Taking the D-Train

The series in Florida hasn’t even begun, and already Ron Gardenhire is disappointed. Well, sort of.

The Marlins have decided to push Dontrelle Willis’ next start to Tuesday, spoiling a great matchup with Johan Santana. And though the Twins figure to have better luck against Byung-Hyun Kim than the D-Train, Gardenhire said he was disappointed by the news.

“I was hoping we could get a chance to see him pitch. It looks like he really enjoys the game of baseball,” Gardenhire said. “That’s what baseball is all about, when you see him out there competing. That’s pretty fun for me.”

But Willis experienced tightness in his left forearm Tuesday in Chicago, and was pulled after just one inning. Willis threw on the side Friday, but Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said the team wants to give him more time so the problem doesn’t recur.

Can’t blame them for that. So it’s Santana-Kim on Sunday.

Tonight’s lineups:

TWINS

Castillo 2b

Mauer c

Cuddyer rf

Morneau 1b

Hunter cf

Cirillo 3b

Ford lf

Bartlett ss

Bonser p

MARLINS

Amezaga cf

Uggla 2b

Ramirez ss

Cabrera 3b

Willingham lf

Hermida rf

Olivo c

Boone 1b

Olsen p

Blyleven's bald

Well, at least pretty close. Johan Santana held the clippers as the FSN cameras rolled in the visiting clubhouse at Shea Stadium Wednesday afternoon. The shave was a close one, and team barber Ramon Ortiz cleaned up Blyleven's neck once Santana did most of the damage.

Said Torii Hunter, "Bert looks like he in prison!"

Here are your lineups as the Twins wrap things up in New York ...

Minnesota
Luis Castillo 2B
Joe Mauer C
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Jeff Cirillo 3B
Lew Ford LF
Nick Punto SS
Scott Baker P

New York
Jose Reyes SS
Paul Lo Duca C
Carlos Beltran CF
David Wright 3B
Carlos Delgado 1B
Shawn Green RF
Jose Valentin 2B
Ricky Ledee LF
Oliver Perez P

Autographs, home runs, and Johan at the bat

Got off the Subway at the same time as Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan this afternoon. Nathan was bombarded by autograph seekers, but Guerrier was left, for the most part, alone. One sympathetic fan ran up to Guerrier, thrust a ball at him and said, "Here, I feel bad."

Classic.

A few little facts before the lineups ...

Justin Morneau is looking for his 100th career home run. His walk-off on Sunday against the Brewers was his 99th.

Johan Santana sat in the dugout before the game with his batting gloves on, holding his bat and looking quite excited about the opportunity to hit tonight. Perhaps he'll give himself some of that run support he's been missing.

Michael Cuddyer is riding a nine-game hitting streak. During that time the right fielder is hitting .333.

When asked what he'd heard about Mets starting pitcher Jorge Sosa, Ron Gardenhire said, "slider, slider, slider."

Lineups ...

Minnesota
Luis Castillo 2B
Joe Mauer C
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Jeff Cirillo 3B
Jason Tyner LF
Jason Bartlett SS
Johan Santana P

New York
Jose Reyes SS
Paul Lo Duca C
Carlos Beltran CF
David Wright 3B
Carlos Delgado 1B
Damion Easley 2B
Shawn Green OF
Carlos Gomez LF
Jorge Sosa P