As the Sox prepare to play outdoor baseball in Minnesota for the first time in decades, let's familiarize ourselves with Target Field.
Capacity: 39,504, down from 55,300 in the Metrodome.
Bathrooms: 401 fixtures for women, 266 fixtures for men. Early reports indicate that the lines for men's bathrooms are longer than the lines for women.
Camera: Broadcasts from Target Field have the camera situated behind dead center, instead of the slight offset angle used
Dimensions: The park favors left-handed hitters, with shorter distances to the right field corner (328 feet to 339) and right-field power alley (365 to 377). Plus, while dead center is 403 feet, the deepest part of the park is just left of center, measuring 411 feet.
Weather: It's supposed to rain all day, but clear out around 6 p.m. So 38 degrees and cloudy for tonight, 45 degrees and cloudy for Wednesday.
Jim Thome: Hitting .258/.395/.545 with four doubles and five homers, good for an OPS+ of 154.
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Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Don Cooper and Sergio Santos talk about their baby steps toward higher-leverage situations.
*J.J. says the Sox should stick with Bobby Jenks, at least if Ozzie Guillen is settling on one guy.
*Oral Sox has a new podcast up.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 3, Lehigh Valley 2
- Tyler Flowers hit a pair of solo homers, and struck out once.
- Carlos Torres had a good night: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- Jordan Danks went 0-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and his ninth stolen base. He struck out twice.
- C.J. Retherford went 1-for-4 with a K, Dayan Viciedo went 1-for-3 with a K.
- Jacksonville 7, Birmingham 3
- Brent Morel went 3-for-4 with his second homer and three RBI; he's hitting .324.
- Christian Marrero went 1-for-4 with a K.
- John Shelby went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Winston-Salem 4, Potomac 1
- Justin Edwards threw seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk and striking out two.
- Brandon Short doubled twice.
- Jon Gilmore went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts, but committed his 11th error.
- Kannapolis 5, West Virginia 2
- A much-needed quality start for Justin Collop: 6 Ip, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.
- Brady Shoemaker went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI.
- Miguel Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a strikeout; Nick Ciolli went 1-for-5 with a double, RBI and a strikeout.
- Trayce Thompson went 0-for-4.
