Twins-Tigers: Positive news on Joe Mauer

The Twins waited until today to send righthander Jeff Manship to Class AAA Rochester. Indications are that Joe Mauer was on the verge of landing on the DL.

But a MRI on Mauer's left heel has revealed a soft tissue bruise, not a bone bruise. That's a good thing, because a bone bruise would take longer to heal.

Mauer continued to receive treatment on Tuesday, and it's still not known when he'll be able to return to action. But the fact that the Twins decided against placing Mauer on the DL suggests that he won't be out an extended amount of time.

The Twins get another crack at lefthander Dontrelle Willis, who beat them last week in the Motown City. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said that the Twins got in good hitter's counts against Willis but then chased bad pitches. So he's looking for his hitters to force Willis to throw them strikes.

Wilson Ramos is back in the lineup tonight - I'm sure a .778 batting average is hard to ignore. Ramos is the first player since Nanny Fernandez for the 1942 Boston Braves to have seven hits in his first two major league games.

Lineups

Tigers (16-11)

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Johnny Damon, DH
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Brennan Boesch, LF
6. Brandon Inge, 3B
7. Scott Sizemore, 2B
8. Gerald Laird, C
9. Adam Everett, SS

LHP Dontrelle Willis

Twins (17-9)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Hudson, 2B
3. Justin Morneau, 1B
4. Jim Thome, DH
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. J.J. Hardy, SS
8. Wilson Ramos, C
9. Nick Punto, 3B

RHP Nick Blackburn