Only five more games with the White Sox! Bailey Ober on the mound for the Twins versus Dallas Keuchel, who has done better than I ever thought he would for the Sox.
First Pitch at 7:10 and looks like a glorious night for baseball in Chicago.
Twins Line up
LF - Arraez
C - Garver
DH - Cruz
3B - Donaldson
2B - Polanco
RF - Kepler
1B - Sano
CF - Celestino
SS - Simmons
The games are about to start, and I don't see a game log, so here's one. Griffin Jax goes for the Twins in game one. Someone goes for the Twins in game two, probably someone not named Griffin Jax. I'm guessing the White Sox will use a couple of pitchers, too. Go Twins!
That last game 82 didn't really go like the previous 6 or 7. Time to move on to game 92 today with J.A. Happ taking on Wily Peralta.
Jorge Polanco in July - .269/.304/.462
He's doing the whole "no walks, but more power" thing that he does sometimes, this right after drawing 6 walks and having two extra base hits in the last 10 games in June.
Max Kepler in July - .297/.350/.703
Any split that has Kepler hitting almost .300 is pretty remarkable. This is including his 0 for 5 yesterday.
Hey, been awhile since we played, eh?
Jose Berrios v. Wily Peralta
Last game before the All-Star break, and the Twins have a chance to get to a tie for third place in the division with a win.
Twins haven't had a lot of luck getting wins in Berrios starts of late, losing the last three games despite Berrios allowing only 5 earned runs in 18.1 innings in those three games. Surely that will even out today and we'll get to see good pitching and good hitting combine for a Twins win.
Twins have had a couple of solid games to start the series against the tigers. Let's see that keep going.
Ober is pitching today. He's been decent. Do that more, Bailey.
I didn't see a game log, so here is one.
Game Time - 7:10 pm CDT
The Twins kick off their last series before the All-Star break against the Tigers tonight, and their last series at home until the Angels come to town on the 22nd. At 35-50, the Twins sit 15 games below .500 and in sole possession of last place in the division 15.5 games behind the Pale Hosers. I have to think that Messieurs Falvey and Levine are working overtime to figure out how to extract the most possible value for any player that's not a building block. At this point they have to have a chop shop mentality - strip it to the frame, get what you can for the parts, and start rebuilding this broken down team.
There are no promotional giveaways tonight (there is a UND special ticket package), but tomorrow's game features the baby blue Twins replica jerseys to the first 10,000 fans, along with post-game fireworks. Saturday is the 30 HR Bomba Club bobblehead giveaway, and Sunday they're handing out Twins photo magnet schedules. The team has been drawing close to 20,000 fans per game at home since going to 100% capacity, even with the poor caliber of play on the field, so I'm thinking there's just a ton of pent up demand to take me out to the ballgame and low quality performance is not going to deter most people from coming out. It's nice being part of the ballpark experience for folks, but standing on concrete for six hours sure does take a toll on your lower extremities, and I'm working three out of four games this series starting tonight. I'm hoping for fast games with no extra innings, and any wins that the Twins might stumble into are a bonus. J.A. Happ on the hill for the Twins tonight, southpaw Tarik Skubal starting for the Tigers. Play ball!
Lance Lynn
vs
Michael Pineda
Pineda last pitched for the Twins on June 13 and had one rehab start on July 1. Four runs in four innings is good enough to start for the MLB club so here he is.
Assuming the rain/storms predicted for today hold off or are done, White Sox back at Target Field for 2nd game of a three game series. White Sox have actually been fairly pedestrian lately but their stranglehold on the AL Central hasn't lessened, mainly because every other team is bad too, including the recent 1-9 Cleveland baseball team.
Jose Berrios on the mound for the Twins looking for his 8th win. Carlos Rodon for the Whities and he's been pretty dang good this year with a .94 WHIP and 122 Ks already.
First pitch at 7:10 assuming no rain delays.
Twins Lineup
3B - Arraez
2B - Polanco
DH - Cruz
LF - Kirilloff
C - Jeffers
RF - Kepler
1B - Sano
CF - Celestino
SS - Simmons
