Pain in the Neck

Jason Bartlett won’t play tonight -- well, won’t start anyway -- but he should be back on the field this weekend. The shortstop seemed entirely relieved to learn that the neck pain that has bothered him since January isn’t anything serious. Guess that means the pain isn’t going to go away completely for awhile, considering he plays just about every day, but he doesn’t seem to mind that too much. He’s been living with the neck pain for a while; only when he started feeling it in his shoulders did he believe he needed to do something about it. And he says, after four days off, he feels a lot better today. No doubt having that off his mind helps, too.

Joe Mauer is still getting better but still isn’t activated. From reading between the lines, I’m guessing he doesn’t play this weekend but wants to get back next week. Of course, he’s not close to saying any such thing, because he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone if it doesn’t happen.

Matt Stairs put on a show in batting practice. He hit a ball off the speaker above straightaway center field once and planted three balls way up into the upper desk. The last of them hit the bottom of the Twins’ AL championship banner, maybe 10-15 feet above the highest rows of fans. Truly McGwire-esque.

Tonight’s lineups:

BLUE JAYS
Rios rf
Overbay 1b
Wells cf
Glaus 3b
Thomas dh
Stairs lf
Hill 2b
Phillips c
Clayton ss

Litsch p

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Cirillo 3b
Cuddyer rf
Morneau 1b
Hunter cf
Redmond c
Kubel dh
Ford lf
Punto ss
Baker p

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Each week Phil Miller and Kelsie Smith will choose a question or two to answer on the Sunday baseball page in the Pioneer Press.

Torii's No DH

Torii Hunter was supposed to just DH today, but Ron Gardenhire changed his mind. Robinson Tejeda is starting for the Rangers, and left-handers bat .299 against him, while right-handers manage only .198. So Gardenhire decided to use Jason Tyner rather than Lew Ford, who would have taken Hunter’s place in the outfield.

That means Hunter forfeits his DH day, but he didn’t mind. “I told Gardy if he needed me, I’d just as soon play the field,” Hunter said after his 45-minute commute to Arlington from his home in the northern Dallas suburbs. He said he's feeling no ill effects from running into the wall last night.

Sammy Sosa is taking the day off today. The lineups:

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Tyner cf
Cuddyer rf
Morneau dh
Hunter cf
Kubel lf
Rodriguez 3b
Heintz c
Punto ss

Bonser p

RANGERS
Lofton cf
Young ss
Teixeira dh
Diaz rf
Cruz lf
Kinsler 2b
Vazquez 3b
Kata 1b
Stewart c
Tejeda p

Trouble Spreads to Short

Another Bartlett-less night, and apparently that’s going to continue awhile. The shortstop isn’t going to play until he sees a doctor in Minneapolis on Thursday. His pain began as a neck problem, but spread to his shoulder the past few days, and it’s got him a little alarmed.

Also, Justin Morneau is getting the night off, sort of, for the first time this year. He’s the DH, with Jeff Cirillo playing the field. Hey, maybe the Twins can finally get their first home run of the season from a DH.

Lineups:

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Cirillo 1b
Cuddyer rf
Morneau dh
Hunter cf
Redmond c
Kubel lf
Rodriguez 3b
Punto ss

Santana p

RANGERS
Kinsler 2b
Young ss
Teixeira 1b
Sosa dh
Diaz rf
Cruz lf
Laird c
Kata 3b
Mahar cf

Loe p

New Guy, Same Look

Carmen Cali has arrived, and he’s pretty excited to be here. He threw 3 1/3 innings last night, but ask him if he’s available to pitch tonight, and he gets a pretty good laugh. “Anything they want,” he said. “I’m ready.”

Yeah, dumb question. You don’t get called up to the majors -- he got the word at 1:15 a.m. today, in his hotel in Norfolk, Va. -- and immediately tell the manager you’re too tired to pitch. Besides, Cali only threw 28 pitches in a very efficient outing.

Cali replaces Glen Perkins, who won’t be the only pitcher to go on the disabled list. Dennys Reyes’ arm soreness will probably sideline him, too.

One of the first things Cali did upon arrival was get the standard Twins’ look -- no, not the uniform. He was marched into the restroom and got the buzzed-off haircut that his new teammates all sport already.

“First time since college,” he said with a laugh.

-- Phil Miller

Carmen Cali to replace injured Perkins

The Twins placed left-handed pitcher Glen Perkins (shoulder) on the 15-day disabled list and purchased the contract of left-hander Carmen Cali from Class AAA Rochester.

The 28-year-old reliever was 2-0 with a 2.70 earned run average and one save in 12 appearances (16 2/3 innings) for the Red Wings. He will be available for tonight's game against the Rangers.

Bartlett's Neck Hurts

No Jason Bartlett tonight. He’s got a stiff neck that’s been getting worse, and now it’s become painful enough to keep him out of the lineup.

“He’s not taking batting practice today -- that should tell you how he feels,” Ron Gardenhire said of the normally work-intensive shortstop. He doesn’t expect the problem to last more than a day or two, though.

Bartlett’s absence allows Gardenhire to move Nick Punto to shortstop for another day. The third baseman will be Luis Rodriguez, though, not Jeff Cirillo. I imagine that’s because Gardenhire is already planning to play Cirillo at first base on Tuesday (and give Justin Morneau a DH day), and doesn’t want his knee to be overworked.

Lineups:

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Punto ss
Cuddyer rf
Morneau 1b
Hunter cf
Redmond c
Kubel dh
Ford lf
Rodriguez 3b

Silva p

RANGERS
Lofton cf
Young ss
Teixeira 1b
Sosa rf
Cruz lf
Catalanotto dh
Kinsler 2b
Laird c
Vazquez c
Padilla p