Twenty games remain. The Twins have to go 10-10 to avoid 90 losses. Considering the non-locomotive-related disaster of the first month and a half and the trading away of Cruz and Berrios, avoiding 90 losses would be notable for this team.
Jorge Polanco might hit his 30th homer today!
Bailey Ober might have his 10th start in a row allowing 3 or fewer earned runs!
The Twins might even the season series against KC at 8-8 and move up to a tie for fourth in the AL central standings!
I am kind of annoyed that the Royals used 5 relief pitchers yesterday and not a single one of them blew the lead. It's some weird new definition of "relief pitching" that seems particularly unfair when deployed against the Twins.
Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope your weather is nice and your neighbors fireworks last only until bedtime and no longer.
I've liked Wolf Alice on and off since their debut album a while back, but their albs have always struck me as a bit uneven. Their newest, Blue Weekend, fixes a lot of that, and it rocks, besides.
I always figured they'd put on a real good live show, and this clip seems to confirm that.
Oh, and Griffin Jax takes on the Royals, if you're into that sort of thing.
Well, for awhile there the Twins were showing some signs of life with a series win at Cleveland and a sweep of Baltimore at home before losing a home series to Kansas City. Another road series against Baltimore did not prove to be the tonic it's been for a few years now as the boys foundered like an overloaded crab boat on a stormy Chesapeake Bay. The Twins will complete this road trip with a series in Kansas City before returning home to take on the Yankees and and the Astros. Injuries have taken a big toll on this team and rendered it more or less replacement level at way too many positions, and of course there's the bullpen that's been an albatross all season long. It's been a disappointing first trimester to say the least, but as players return from injuries there's hope for improvement. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.
The Twins send J.A. Happ to the mound today while Kansas City will counter with a southpaw of their own in Kris Bubic. He faced the Twins last Friday and pretty much had their number, giving up just one run on four hits over six innings. Happ has been quite good over his last two starts, recording 15 strikeouts in those outings. Let's hope that 38-year old arm has enough experience to hold down the Royals' offense, and that our lineup is more effective against the 23-year old from Cupertino that it was the last time out. Play ball!
The Twins started the month of May by scoring 7 runs in one inning against Keller. It's only right that they finish the month the same way.
In writing out the starting pitcher matchup, I can't help but notice that Matt Shoemaker is still in the rotation. Three of his last four stats have been good, and as long as the ball stays in the yard, he's finding a little success.
Yet another Sunday rubber match for the Twins. I'm pretty sure every Sunday game this season has come with the Twins having split the two games before them. So far Minnesota is 3-3 on Sundays, so the weekends have been pretty much a wash.
Another Sunday game, another rubber match. The Royals and Twins have matching 8-run wins so far in this series. This game won't have to be all that close to be the biggest nail-biter of the series.
Jose Berrios v. Brad Keller
The fact that Alex Kirilloff is already getting comfortable against the Royals fills me with gladness. Here's to many long years of constant dingers against a division rival.
The Twins are 8-15. The Royals are 15 - 8. The Twins were expected to dominate most teams. The Royals were not. The Twins have stars and players you have heard of. The Royals have... I suppose a 25 man roster?
The last few years it has seemed like the Royals played the Twins harder than most teams. Even when they were winning, the Twins really had to work for it. Let's hope this year reverses that trend too, with dominant Twins wins.
For the Twins Pineda will be taking the hill, looking to bounce back from a rough outing last time, but still sporting some excellent numbers overall. Brady Singer will be pitching for the Royals. Keeping up the mirror theme, he had his best outing of the season last time (though he hasn't been a slouch overall), so hopefully he also bounces back to serve up a ton of dingers this game.
The Twins and Royals close out their series on this Monday eve (huh). Twins have taken two of three so far in this series, "The Battle for 4-2". Every game has ended in that score so far.
Wisler and his funky looking elbow will get the "start" for the Twins. Bubic is making his fourth major league start and his first against the Twins.
Apparently the Royals were none to pleased at Romo's self-celebration at the end of yesterday's game. In a game without fans, everyone can hear everything and such. We'll see if any of that carries over into today's game.
