Red Sox-Twins (June 13, 14, & 15)

The BoSox make their first and only visit of the season to Minnesota to play the Twins. Minnesota is 28-34, 12-games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. In the series opener tonight, one of the marquee pitching matchups of the season will take place between two early favorites for the Cy Young. Curt Schilling (9-2, 3.81) will face Johan Santana (6-4, 3.16). Santana survived a rough beginning to the year and the 2004 Cy Young winner has been on his game since May. The first pitch is at 8:10 and the game will be carried on NESN and WEEI. In Game Two, Matt Clement (5-4, 6.68) will return to the rotation after missing more than a week with arm fatigue. His opponent from Minnesota will be Brad Radke (4-7, 6.17) at 8:10 on NESN and WEEI. This is a matchup of two of the "jewels" of the 2004 free agent pitching class and to date, neither has earned their large contracts. On Thursday night, either Tim Wakefield (4-7, 3.93) or Jon Lester (0-0, 6.23) will go up against the struggling Carlos Silva (2-8, 7.73). Wake has been experiencing soreness in his back and is uncertain if he can make the start. Hopefully he can -- Wake is 6-2 with a 4.37 ERA in nine games at the Metrodome. If Lester makes the start he will be lucky to face a Twins lineup that rivals some Little League teams in the production department; the Twinkies sport a team batting average of .270 -- which would be much lower if not for Joe Mauer and his .386 average -- and have only managed 52 homeruns. The finale is an 8:10 game on NESN and WEEI.