It’s sunny and warm at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins prepare to open a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox. It’ll be a pair of righties doing battle, as the Twins send Ervin Santana (3.24 ERA, 4.66 FIP in 169.1 innings) to the mound to tangle with James Shields (5.63 ERA, 6.13 FIP in 80 innings) of the White Sox. This will be the second matchup in a row between the pitchers, with the White Sox beating the Twins 4-3 last Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

More on that in a bit.

The Twins announced on Tuesday that Joe Nathan will formally announce his retirement in a press conference on Friday at Target Field. He’ll be joined by Thad Levine — who was an executive during Nathan’s time with the Texas Rangers — and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday night. He’ll also be honored with a video tribute put together by the team.

Nathan spent seven seasons with the Twins, saving 260 games with a 2.16 ERA and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. He finished his career with 377 saves, with all but one coming either with the Twins or after he departed. Nathan played two seasons in Texas, two in Detroit and split time between the Cubs and Giants last season before going to spring training with the Nationals this season. Nathan struck out nine batters in 11.2 innings with the Nationals in spring training, opted out of his deal and resigned a minor-league deal with the team before he was released from Triple-A Syracuse at the end of May.

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