The Twins announced their lineup yesterday.

 

1. Denard Span, CF

2. Jamey Carroll, SS

3. Joe Mauer, C

4. Justin Morneau, DH

5. Josh Willingham, LF

6. Ryan Doumit, RF

7. Danny Valencia, 3B

8. Chris Parmelee, 1B

9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Starting pitcher: RH Carl Pavano

 

 

 

While the O's will trot this out:

 

#OpeningDay lineup vs MIN: Reimold LF, Hardy SS, Markakis RF, Jones CF, Wieters C, Betemit DH, Davis 1B, Andino 2B, Arrieta P

 

The Twins haven't seen much of Arrieta, with Alexi Casilla's five plate appearances being the most among Minnesota's hitters. Arrieta has a four-pitch arsenal - fastball, slider, curve and change - and had been very inconsistent against left-handed opponents, walking 14.6% of all lefties faced. This should bode well for the Twins port-siders.

 

By the way, stop by the "Pick 2 Cliq" contest, select which Twins hitter you think will perform the best today and win $50 in free liquor.

It's like the first day of school. Excited and scared at the same time. What's going to happen? Granted it's only one game, but I remember how bad the opening game was last year and look what happened...

Leaving work at noon... I haven't worked on the afternoon of Opening Day in my X years of being employed... Nothing better!

This was the aftermath of last year's opening day:

 

Parker, you are missing Baltimore's 3B (Reynolds) who will be batting between Wieters and Betemit

That's a priceless screencap Parker

Hopefully there will be no nose picking today.

Unlike yesterday, I think we will see lots of runs scored today. Like the rest of the season, the question will be "can we score enough runs to overcome our inconsistant pitching"?

Game Score picks? I've got the Twins winning 6-4

Twins 9, Orioles 1

Pavano the true athlete! Him and his huge hands...

Is Pavano throwing all changeups, or is 83 his 2012 fastball?

Meet the new Twins, same as the old Twins!

Well maybe we'll only lose 98 games instead of 99 this year!!

Is Pavano throwing all changeups, or is 83 his 2012 fastball?

His FB was that 86 that went to the stands

Pavano's lack of velocity is... troubling. He's throwing 10 MPH slower than Arrieta.

Went up to 87 with that last looking strike... I think last season he was 89ish so he is getting there.

Twins 9, Orioles 1

Quickly ruined prediction.

Went up to 87 with that last looking strike... I think last season he was 89ish so he is getting there.

You say that like it's a good thing.

Carroll's had a couple of gems so far. Nice to see solid defense at the SS.

Carroll's had a couple of gems so far. Nice to see solid defense at the SS.

Little nervous how close that play ended up being considering how hard the ball was hit. Overall it has to be better than the crap we rolled out last year.

What's the on field delay?

What's the on field delay?

Idiot on the field

Offense would be nice...

Startin' to get on em'

Walks will haunt

This game thread is every bit as exciting as the game itself.

This game thread is every bit as exciting as the game itself.

I agree. Was hoping this thread would be a legitimate alternative to KFANs crap flinging threads.

This game thread is every bit as exciting as the game itself.

What is there to say? Pavano somehow getting by while tossing underhand and Twins hitters repeatedly grounding out to the pitcher. One club is looking very unprepared for the start of the season.

Joe Nathan looked pretty good closing the Rangers game out.