Series Preview: The Border Battle (Brewers vs. Twins)

Minnesota Twins (26-28, 3rd in AL Central) vs Milwaukee Brewers (34-23, 1st in NL Central)

All-Time Series: 230-215 Twins (70-61 at home)

Season Series: Only meeting

Probables:
Monday: Kyle Gibson (4-4, 4.18 ERA) vs. Matt Garza (2-4, 4.84)

Tuesday: Samuel Deduno (1-3. 3.86) vs. Yovani Gallardo (3-3, 3.56)

Wednesday: Marco Estrada (5-2, 4.03) vs. Ricky Nolasco (3-5, 5.70)

Thursday: Wily Peralta (4-5, 2.73) vs. Kevin Correia (2-6, 5.87)

Looking Back:
The Brewers drubbed the Cubs 11-5 on Friday before trading shutout laughers over the weekend, with Jason Hammel and Kyle Lohse shutting down the Brewers and Cubs, respectively. Lohse tossed the Brewers' first complete game shutout on Sunday since Sept. 25th of last year, when he blanked the Braves on 89 pitches. 

The surprisingly competitive Twins got the better of the Yankees, taking 2 of 3 from the Bronx Bombers in New York over the weekend. They had previously dropped 6 of their last 7 games.

This picture taken just moments before
Jen White (pictured) disappeared.

What to Watch For:
For the second straight year, the Brewers and Twins will play home-and-home two game sets in what the league is selling as a "Border Battle", complete with a mascot battle featuring a since-deleted attack from TC Bear regarding the health of Wisconsin's education system. One imagines you'd need to resort to such tactics when languishing below the .500 mark. If you're keeping tabs on the Cardinals, they'll be participating in a similar arrangement with the crosstown Royals (which also includes a similar gap in talent level).

On the field, you can catch Oswaldo Arcia, older brother of Brewers' top shortstop prospect Orlando, who has just recently returned to the Twins lineup after a wrist injury kept him out for most of the month of May. The Brewers will miss the revitalized Phil Hughes, who has become the Twins' presumptive ace since escaping the Yankees and their Little League-sized stadium.

News and Notes:

-The Brewers farm system, widely criticized as being among the worst in the league, is currently fourth among all organizations in combined winning percentage. The Brewers, AAA Nashville Sounds and AA Huntsville Stars are all in first place, the Stars by an incredible 12.5 games. (Full article from Brewers.com here).

-Aramis Ramirez went 0-2 in a rain-shortened outing in Appleton on Sunday, and the plan for now is for him to join the team on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
-Jim Henderson has not yet resumed throwing after his setback last week and Tom Gorzelanny is still searching for his pre-injury velocity, and neither is nearing a return.