MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer's first career game as leadoff hitter will have to wait. The Twins, who had Mauer slated to serve as leadoff hitter in the series opener against the Orioles, saw Monday's game at Target Field postponed due to inclement weather. It will be made up on July 28.
Right-hander Jose Berrios was scheduled to make his third career start for the Twins, but will see his start pushed back until Tuesday. Orioles right-hander Tyler Wilson was scheduled to start on Monday, but will now start on Wednesday with right-hander Kevin Gausman staying on his day to start Tuesday.
"We're going to stay on schedule and not change it up," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Hopefully it helps everybody in the long run."
Mauer, meanwhile, was scheduled to lead off for the first time in his 13-year career, as Molitor wanted to take advantage of his league-leading .420 on-base percentage. Molitor said he still plans to use Mauer in the leadoff spot in the short-term.
"I'm pretty open to see how it plays out," Molitor said. "I'm pretty curious about it. I think there's some logic to it where we are with eight wins past a month into the season. I want to see how it goes. Whether I change it against lefties or if I just kind of let it ride for a couple days."
The makeup date of July 28 comes during the middle of a five-game homestand against the Braves and White Sox. The Twins originally had two off-days scheduled that week, as they're also off on July 25. The Orioles finish a six-game homestand on July 27 and head to Toronto for a three-game series starting on July 29. So they'll head to Minnesota for one game before going to Toronto.
Fans holding tickets to Monday's postponed game have two options. They can use their tickets for the game on July 28 or utilize the value of their ticket as a voucher toward any future Twins regular season game in 2016.