Game 1 (Opening Day!!!) - at Baltimore

[Parker Hageman]

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.

[Gernzy]

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...

[Seth Stohs]

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

[Parker Hageman]

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

PavanoPickin.jpg

[SweetOne69]

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

[thrylos98]

That's a priceless screencap Parker

[Yoshii]

Hopefully there will be no nose picking today.

[minn55441]

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"?

[Intramural Legend]

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

[Shane Wahl]

Twins 9, Orioles 1

[Intramural Legend]

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

[USAFChief]

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

[DrJubal]

Meet the new Twins, same as the old Twins!

[Yoshii]

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

[thrylos98]

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

His FB was that 86 that went to the stands

[Nick Nelson]

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

[thrylos98]

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

[Shane Wahl]

Twins 9, Orioles 1

Quickly ruined prediction.

[USAFChief]

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.

[DrJubal]

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