Frankie v Ervin Santana; Lineup (Starling's Back) & Notes

Today's Game - Francisco Liriano (6-6, 2.91) and Ervin Santana (2-0, 2.60) hook up on get-away day. Frankie's been a stalwart, going 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 IP in his last 11 starts. That 12th start, though, was a rough one against the Twinkies, as he gave up a seven spot in two frames in May. Overall, he's 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in three career starts with the other two outings coming as a member of the White Sox in 2012.

Frankie faces his old team (photo: USA Today)

Ervin signed a big deal with the Twins and then promptly got smacked with an 80-game suspension for a PED violation. But he's been light's out since returning four starts ago, having pitched scoreless ball the last two times out. He's faced the Bucs once, winning 7-3 as a Bravo last year.

The game starts at 1:10 and will be on Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Today's Lineup - Gregroy Polanco RF, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Aramis Ramirez 3B, Jung-Ho Kang SS, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro DH, Fran Cervelli C, Travis Ishikawa 1B (Liriano P)

Starling's back from his tummy ache, so that's good news. Pedro remains at DH and Ishy at 1B. Apparently A-Ram can't slump his way out of cleanup; guess Clint figures he's due. Fran gets another day-following-night stint; hope that doesn't wear him down as the dog days heat up.

• Former Twin Francisco Liriano is still the all-time leader in strikeouts at Target Field with 258.
• Yes, you can go home again: Third Base Coach Rick Sofield was selected by Minnesota in the first round of the 1975 June Draft, then made his big league debut and played three seasons (1979-1981) with the Twins.
• Today is the last interleague game of the season for the Pirates. The Bucs are 12-7 v the AL going into today.
• RHP Tyler Glasnow is a step closer; he was promoted to Indy today.We don't expect to see him in September - that's not the Pirates way - but gives him the opportunity to be pitching in Pittsburgh sometime in 2016.