De Vries makes home debut tonight

Thanks to everyone who participated in the online chat today. It was a lot of fun, and the hour flew by.

Three of the first five questions were about righthander Alex Wimmers. I didn't have an update at the time but I checked in with a couple Twins officials and have one now.

Wimmers hasn't pitched since Apr. 9. He has a slight tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow but doctors determined that he didn't need Tommy John surgery. He's rehabilitating the elbow in Fort Myers for another month, then will give it a try. We'll see how that goes....

Righthander Nick Blackburn is scheduled to start tonight for Class AAA Rochester as he works his way back from a sore left quad.

It was 30 years ago today when catcher Sal Butera set a Twins record by throwing out four players attempting to steal. The players: Ken Griffey, Greg Nettles, Willie Randolph and Bobby Murcer. The Yankees still won the game 6-4.

Sal's son, Drew, recently pitched an inning in Milwaukee when the Twins ran low on arms. Drew later found out that he still trails his dad, who threw two innings during his career..

UPDATES: Joe C. heard from a source that Jason Marquis is about to sign with the Padres.

Outfielder Erik Komatsu has returned to the Washington Nationals after being designated for assignment by the Twins on Sunday.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said his bullpen should be in decent shape for tonight's game. He still wants to limit the times Jared Burton pitches back-to-back days, at least for the first half of the season. But if Burton tells him he can pitch, he'll use him.

A's (22-27)

1. Jemile Weeks, 2B
2. Collin Cowgill, LF
3. Josh Reddick, RF
4. Seth Smith, DH
5. Brandon Inge, 3B
6. Kila Ka'aihue, 1B
7. Kurt Suzuki, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Cliff Pennington, SS

Jarrod Parker, RHP

Twins (16-32)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Ben Revere, RF
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Josh Willingham, LF
5. Justin Morneau, 1B
6. Ryan Doumit, C
7. Brian Dozier, SS
8. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
9. Jamey Carroll, 2B

Cole De Vries, RHP