Off two-homer game, Mitch Garver moves up to second in Twins' lineup in Chicago

CHICAGO — Mitch Garver proved he's ready for full-time action on Monday, so he's right back near the top of the lineup tonight.

Garver hit long home runs in each of his first two at-bats since returning from a seven-week absence spent recovering from a severe groin injury that required surgery.

"Squaring the ball up like that immediately, [it's] not an easy task to do after missing that time," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "The quality of at-bats in general were really good. He laid off some good pitches, put himself in a good spot to do some damage, [then] didn't miss his pitches. You couldn't draw it up any better than that."

So when drawing up his lineup for tonight's game with the White Sox, Baldelli chose to put Garver in the No. 2 spot, the first time he's started there since Aug. 19 of last season — by unfortunate coincidence, the night Garver suffered a strained intercostal muscle and went on the injured list. With lefthander Dallas Keuchel on the mound for Chicago, Josh Donaldson moves to the cleanup spot for the second time on this road trip.

Garver says he's completely heathy now, and ready to catch three or four times a week, with rookie Ryan Jeffries picking up the rest of the games. He'll catch Bailey Ober tonight, a rookie righthander who is trying to keep an unexpected streak alive. The Twins came to town with a 2-12 record against the White Sox (they won a third time in Game 1 Monday), and both of their victories were started by Ober.

Here are the lineups for Game 3 of this four-game series (7:10 p.m.) at Guaranteed Rate Park:

TWINS

Arraez LF

Garver C

Cruz DH

Donaldson 3B

Polanco 2B

Kepler RF

Sanó 1B

Celestino CF

Simmons SS

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Ober RHP

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WHITE SOX

Anderson SS

Sheets RF

Abreu 1B

Goodwin LF

Moncada 3B

García 2B

Engel CF

Collins DH

Zavala C

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Keuchel LHP