Kuroda Takes The Mound In Final First-Half Start

A day after the return of Derek Jeter, the Yankees will welcome the Twins into town for the second meeting against Minnesota this season. These teams faced off in the Twin Cities last week with the Yankees walking out of Target Field with a four-game sweep.

Then with the Royals in town, the Yankees dropped the first two games of the series, but rebounded to take the final two games to send the Royals off with a series tie.

Tonight's Lineup, 7:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:

Gardner CF
Ichiro RF
Cano 2B
Wells DH
Almonte LF
Overbay 1B
Nunez SS
Cruz 3B
Stewart C

Kuroda P

Pitching Preview:

Hiroki Kuroda will make his first start of the season against the Twins on Tuesday. Kuroda gave a good outing against the Orioles on Sunday, taking the loss while giving up only three hits over seven innings.

Kuroda is 7-6 with a 2.77 ERA on the season, and is 1-1 with a 2.62 ERA in his past five outings.

Scott Diamond will take the ball for the Twins, facing the Yankees for the second time this season. He pitched the series opener with the Yankees at Target Field on July 1, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits, while walking one and striking out five in 6 2/3 innings of work.

The left-hander Diamond is 5-8 this season with a 5.52 ERA for the Twins this season.

Yankee Notes:

* Brian Cashman announced that Derek Jeter has Grade-1 quad strain, keeping him out at least through the All-Star break, but not ruling out a return to the DL for the Yankees' captain.

"We'll have to give it some time and see how he responds," Cashman said.

Jeter made his season debut on Thursday against the Royals at Yankee Stadium, going 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, injuring the quad during the third at-bat. He underwent an MRI after leaving the game, with the results showing the strain.

* Alex Rodriguez will play seven innings for the Tampa Yankees, Friday night. Cashman reported that A-Rod will not return to the Yankees before July 22.

He was scheduled to meet with MLB officials today about the ongoing investigation in the Biogenesis scandal. The details of how the meeting went is unknown.

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