Mauer Hurting Heading Into Game 3

Twins catcher, and this year's likely AL MVP is suffering from a hip flexor injury that he suffered when he fell rounding first base in the tie-breaker game against the Tigers last week. He told Ron Gardenhire "I am a catcher, no matter what you say.", but he also had these quotes via Jack Curry of the Times:

“I’m not feeling too well right now,” Mauer said. “I slowed up a little bit. We had our chances to win. We had the bases loaded.”

“Just not feeling great,” he said. “We got a playoff game. I got pretty banged up. What can you do?”

Great players -- and Joe Mauer is a great player -- tend to dig down deep for something extra when everything is on the line. Mauer could do the same. At the very least he'll be out there behind the plate giving it everything he's got. Still, this can't be good news for the Twins.