Ervin Santana faces off against Marco Estrada. While both pitchers sport 1-2 records, Santana has managed 29.1 innings over 6 starts with a decent 3.38 ERA and 3.36 FIP, but a 1.50 WHIP, 124 ERA+, opponents batting average of .281 and BABIP of .341 and only 27 strikeouts on the year.

On the other hand, Estrada has pitched 43.2 innings in 7 starts with a shiny 2.89 ERA, a 3.64 FIP, 1.14 WHIP, 141 ERA+, opponents BA of .199 and BABIP of .241 and 41 strikeouts. He's seen only 2.06 runs/9 of support compared to 3.38 for Santana...we'll see how it goes.

The Twins brand has lost it's luster during the first 8 weeks of the season ... more losses than wins, poor hitting, fielding, pitching, managing and roster construction in general resulting in lots of moves in non-competitive season. Moves that appear to be, to borrow a well-worn analogy, like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Hopefully for the long-suffering diehard fans (5 of 6 years of 90+ losses!?) and those youngsters in the stands getting their first taste of live baseball (there's gotta be a few families taking advantage of the dirt-cheap secondary market, eh?) may the home team bring home a win today!