Matt Capps in, Joe Nathan out, as Twins closer, for now

The Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays are currently in the sixth inning and the Twins have a two-run lead, 4-2.

If there's a save opportunity in the ninth inning, it will be Matt Capps -- not Joe Nathan -- on the mound to close out the game for the Twins, per Kelsie Smith of the Pioneer Press.

With last night's blown save, Nathan has done so in back-t0-back save opportunities and his ERA has increased to 8.44. In those two games, he has allowed four earned runs, three hits and three walks with no strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.

Nathan said last night, "Coming back from Tommy John isn't easy. It's a tough process and to do it now while I'm closing games out, I think that's a tough gig when you're healthy."

Capps hasn't been much better recently.

In his past two appearances (1 1/3 innings), Capps has allowed three earned runs. And on April 14th, both Capps and Nathan blew save opportunities.

Francisco Liriano to start -- not close

Minnesota Twins starter Francisco Liriano will be just that -- a starter.

To be specific, Liriano will be the team's fifth starter, per Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

With closer Joe Nathan out for the season after having Tommy John surgery, there was some talk about the potential for Liriano to close. Instead, the team will employ a closer-by-committee approach to save opportunities.

Liriano, who has pitched well in winter ball and spring training, threw six shutout innings today and is a guy you should target late in mixed-league drafts.

Joe Nathan to miss 2010 season

As expected, Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire 2010 season and have Tommy John surgery in hopes of being back and ready for the 2011 season.

"It didn't go like we hoped," Nathan said [after playing catch today]. "We knew it was a longshot, but I think this will clear my head. There definitely was no gray area. It was definitely on the dark side. We know now that we're going to need to go in and have some surgery done and get this thing taken care of."

Based on the current pitchers on the roster, Jon Rauch is the most likely replacement for Nathan. Rauch has 26 career saves, of which 17 came with the Washington Nationals in 2008.

"He's got all the closing stuff: punchout pitches, the whole package," [manager Ron] Gardenhire said [of Rauch]. "Whether he wants to do that or not or whether it's the right thing to do remains to be seen."

In addition to Rauch and other internal candidates, such as Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek, the Twins could make a move for San Diego closer Heath Bell.

If so, that would likely move Luke Gregerson into the closer's role and obviously increase his fantasy value.

After the All-Star break, Gregerson had an ERA of 3.13, WHIP of 1.10 and struck out 53 batters in 37.1 innings.