The Twins are in Philadelphia tonight and will face Joe Blanton of the Phillies who has a 1-5 record with a 7.28 ERA.  Nick Blackburn, 6-3 with a 4.96 ERA, starts for the Twins.

After yesterday’s loss to Colorado the Twins had ground into 78 double plays, the most in baseball.  Francisco Liriano (6-4) was the losing pitcher in the 5-1 defeat.  Opposing starters are a combined 5-2 with a 2.56 ERA in Liriano’s last eight starts.

The Twins drew 121,367 fans for the three-game series with the Rockies, the largest attendance ever at Target Field for a three-game series.

Senior Adam Weber made Gophers history this week when his teammates elected him a captain for the third consecutive season.  No other Gopher has ever been a three-year captain.

Weber, who has set school career passing records playing quarterback for Minnesota, was elected one of the team’s four captains on Sunday.  Senior fullback Jon Hoese, senior safety Kim Royston and junior defensive tackle Brandon Kirksey were also elected captains.

Gophers coach Tim Brewster said Weber’s captaincy shows there’s much more to being a captain than age.  “I don’t put an age on leadership,” he said.  “Leadership is leadership.  It’s how you’re perceived.”

Brewster expects his captains to lead verbally and by example.  “You’ve got to be a guy who can verbalize what is acceptable and what’s not,” he said.  “You’re a bell cow.  They’re (the captains) leading the way.”

Vikings coach Brad Childress answering a question about how backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson looked during the team’s recent minicamp: “I saw a guy that is taking another step within the system and has the wisdom of watching a very good quarterback (Brett Favre) play last year and operate in this system like a master at the piano.”

Adrian Peterson’s recognition day in his home town of Palestine, Texas last Saturday was the fourth annual.  Adrian Peterson Day caused the Vikings All-Pro running back to miss minicamp.

Top prospects for the NHL Entry Draft visited the Wild offices last week to meet with the franchise’s hockey operations staff.  Minnesota holds the No. 9 overall pick in the entry draft, June 24 and 26 in Los Angeles.

Since the Wild’s first draft in 2000, the team’s 78 draft picks have totaled 4,569 regular-season games in the NHL.  Minnesota ranks third in the NHL during the past 10 years, with only Los Angeles’ (4,748) and Pittsburgh’s (4,702) draft picks totaling more NHL games.

The NHL Central Scouting Service ranks 20 Minnesotans in the top 210 North American Skaters available for the entry draft, led by Duluth’s Derek Forbort, a defenseman from the United States National Team Development Program, ranked No. 9.

Concordia (St. Paul) volleyball star Maggie McNamara and Bethel track and field standout Marie Borner have been voted the nation’s top collegiate female athletes in Division II and III respectively.  National balloting among NCAA Division II and Division III schools was conducted as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program. Each winner will be presented the Honda Sports Award for Division II and Division III Athlete of the Year at a ceremony in Los Angeles on June 21.  Along with the award, each institution will receive $5,000 for the women’s athletic programs.

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Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is expected to announce in Kansas City today that the Royals will host the 2012 All-Star game.  Although Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners there’s “nothing new” on Minneapolis being the site for a future All-Star game, it appears 2014 could be the year.

The All-Star game alternates between National and American League cities, so four years from now is the soonest the event could be at Target Field.  Twins leaders and other local officials are interested in bringing the game here in 2014.  Meet Minneapolis, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, has estimated that the All-Star game could mean more than $50 million in economic impact.  https://www.ballparkauthority.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B5BA32D35-9BE8-46A4-8256-00B0E159EFFD%7D&DE=%7BE5BE858A-BC3B-4E2E-8FF0-5FF3F02BD93A%7D

Baseball’s owners will be in Minneapolis for quarterly meetings in August.  Those who haven’t seen Target Field will have an insider’s look.  Selig is already familiar with the new facility and is impressed.

The All-Star game hasn’t been played in Minneapolis since 1985 so that figures to be another factor in favor of the event coming here.  Kansas City last hosted the game in 1973.  The Royals play in Kauffman Stadium, a facility that recently had a $250 million renovation.

The All-Star game determines home field advantage in the World Series.  St. Peter approves of the World Series incentive, implemented in 2003 after years of simply alternating American and National League cities.  “I do like the change,” he said.

Target Field has been such a success that St. Peter predicted the franchise will set new records for home attendance ticket revenues and concession sales.  He declined to provide specific figures.  The Twins all-time home attendance high was established in 1988 when the club drew 3,030,672 fans.

The Twins have been leading the Central Division, although that margin is down to 2.5 games.  The Twins have lost two of their last three games and are only 6-4 in their previous 10.  With the halfway mark in the 162 games schedule nearing, the 37-27 Twins are hoping to have more of their best players on the field.

What’s St. Peter’s assessment of the club?  “We feel good about our baseball team,” he said.  “You never complain about being in first place.  As we get healthier we think better times are ahead.”

Injuries or personal issues have sidelined a long list of Twins pitchers and position players.  Both second baseman Orlando Hudson and starting shortstop J.J. Hardy remain on the disabled list.

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Joe Webb, the Vikings sixth round draft choice, demonstrates his athleticism on a YouTube video where he jumps over seven football practice bags.  The video was made last winter and has generated lots of attention. “Especially when it first got on YouTube a lot of people called me up and said, ‘That’s crazy,’ ” Webb recalled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9PsUH1fmJk

Webb was drafted as a potential wide receiver but his raw talent as a quarterback intrigues the Vikings.  He was given attention and opportunity at the team’s recent minicamp.

Among those watching Webb was former Vikings defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema who predicted Webb will make the Vikings 53-man roster or practice squad this year.  “I know I am competing to make a No. 53 spot. …I am just trying to find my way in,” Webb said.

Webb alos said the Vikings coaches like his arm and ability to move around.  But offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said it will be a process to develop the young quarterback who also played wide receiver in college at UAB.

“‘He’s a big athlete,” Bevell said. “He is a tall guy (about 6-4, 220 pounds).  He has a strong arm. …He is very raw at this point. There are a lot of things that he can continue to improve on. …”

Lurtsema also likes Vikings rookie defensive end Everson Griffen.  He said Griffen has the athleticism to “shuffle” off initial contact and make plays for the Vikings.

Critics said last year that Vikings center John Sullivan was undersized for his position at about 6-3, 300 pounds.  Sullivan told Sports Headliners he’s worked hard during the off-season to improve himself physically.  “Really tried to increase upper body size, and get bigger and stronger, and I think I’ve done a good job of that so far,” he said.  “We’ve got a little bit of time before training camp so I will try to continue to make improvements.”

Sullivan said his weight has increased to “just over 300.”

Last week’s approval by Santa Clara voters of a 49ers stadium means the NFL has only three remaining stadium challenges among it 32 teams.  Oakland, San Diego and Minneapolis still have stadium issues.  What’s interesting about the $937 million stadium plan is that nearly 90 percent of the funding will come from private sources.  It seems unlikely that any financing plan for a new Vikings stadium will have 90 percent funding from private sources.

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