Cleveland comes to town to kick off a four-game weekend series tonight, so this is a chance for the Twins to gain some ground head-to-head on a divisional rival. I'm not sure what to make of this team yet since we haven't seen them hitting on all cylinders since April, but I've been duly impressed with the starting rotation. Pablo Lopez has been solid (considering what we gave up I'd like more out of him), Sonny Grey has been phenomenal, but some regression to the mean has to happen eventually, right? The young guys are getting it done, too, we've seen some great starts by Ryan and Varland. The bullpen has been decent, not outstanding but solid enough to keep games winnable in late innings, with some notable exceptions, of course. I don't know what's wrong with Jorge Lopez, for example, the last two outings of his I've seen were horrendous and he simply could not get an out. It's like he's got relief pitcher yips or something, keeps throwing the ball exactly where he doesn't want to. Anyway, tonight we get Pablo Lopez and Tanner Bibee slinging the horsehide. Let's hope the offense we found in Houston made the trip home and shows up for this series.
Final game against the Astros this season. The Twins won the series at home in early April and today's rubber match would make it two series wins against a good team.
This is Hunter Brown's rookie season, but not his first season as he tossed 20 ⅓ innings last year across seven games. He earned Houston's sole win in the first series with seven innings, two hits, and a single unearned run. Here's hoping the Twins have figured out a better plan of attack for their hot-or-not batters.
After some heroics from Royce Lewis yesterday, Twins back at it tonight against Houston in an evening game. Joe Ryan on the mound vs. Brandon Bielak. Twins definitely come out ahead on today's pitching match up so hopefully the bats can be active and timely once again. No word this morning on Byron Buxton who was not in the line up yesterday. He's been pretty wretched at the plate since he dinged that knee so hopefully a few days off will get him back on track. LATE
UPDATE: Buxton in today's lineup. Hopefully the one day did him good.
Hungry Joe is unavailable so I'm pinch hitting today. I can't say I've been happy with the quality of ball and strike calling over the past couple of weeks, but you really can't blame the Twins' chronic ass-bats on the umps. At the games on Friday and Saturday, I counted 7 Blue Jays in the lineup hitting above .250. The Twins had just two. They had two hitters above .300, we had none. And it's not just low overall averages, it's the complete dearth of clutch hits. Rather than cheer when we load the bases with no outs, I cringe at the prospect of underperforming run expectancy yet again. Combine the ass-bats with some sloppy defense and it gets hard to win games, even when the rotation is killing it and the bullpen is showing surprising signs of adequacy.
Speaking of that rotation, Twins ace Sonny Gray takes the mound today for the home team. He's got a 1.82 ERA (236 ERA+), a 2.02 FIP, and a 1.196 WHIP. He's given up zero home runs while notching 66 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched. No pitcher on the team has done more to help win games this year than Sonny. The Astros counter with J.P. France. He's got a 3.43 ERA in four starts with a 1.19 WHIP. Hope everyone is having a pleasant Memorial Day.
If the previous two series are any indication, the Twins either missed their chance at a win yesterday or are due for one today. Ryan better be up for a complete game shutout in order to make it happen.
Oof. Twins have lost five of last seven games all to California teams and for the most part have looked pretty lousy doing so. Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins tonight and although he has pitched well all season, he hasn't won a game yet in May either. Alex Cobb for the Giants.
Twins have a tough stretch of games coming up and it would be nice to feast upon the so-so Giants. If the rest of the Central wasn't so lousy I'd be worried about going all GOSO on the Twins but I think we can still count on some good baseball throughout the summer, especially with Gray, Ryan, and Lopez heading up the starting rotation.
Game time 6:40 and looks like a glorious night for outdoor baseball.
