Twins manager Ron Gardenhire hinted at possibly using Alexi Casilla in place of J.J. Hardy or Danny Valencia with the team facing elimination in Game 3 against the Yankees tonight, but he has all of his regulars in there against Phil Hughes (via Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune).
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Jason Kubel, RF
Delmon Young, LF
Jim Thome, DH
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Danny Valencia, 3B
J.J. Hardy, SS
The lefty-heavy Twins weren’t able to muster much in the way of offense against southpaws CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte over the first two games of the series, but they should be a bit more comfortable Phil Hughes tonight. 17 of the 25 home runs that Hughes allowed during the regular season came against left-handed batters. Unsurprisingly, opposing batters had a 754 OPS against Hughes at the hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium this season compared to a 624 OPS on the road.