Best starter in baseball + Best bullpen in baseball + Patient lineup = Success?
That seems to be the formula the Twins are using right now, and I'm certainly not complaining.
Johan Santana appears to be his normal self, the bullpen is dominant, and while the lineup doesn't have a lot of power, but they're 5th in the AL in OBP (.349, including OBP leader Joe Mauer) which wears down pitchers.
All in all, they're just 1/2 game out of the Wildcard race with the White Sox loss to Detroit, and now they head to Baltimore for a 3-game set. Here's the pitching matchups:
Tuesday: Carlos Silva (8-10, 6.30) vs. Adam Loewen (3-4, 6.07)
Wednesday: Matt Garza (0-2, 11.74) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (9-12, 6.43)
Thursday: Boof Bonser (2-4, 5.51) vs. Kris Benson (10-9, 6.43)
Wow. 6 pitchers, and only 1 has an ERA below 6. That's a whole lotta mediocrity. For the Twins starters, there only goal (at least these backend guys) should be to get to the 5th or 6th inning in a close ballgame, because after the bullpen (more of than not) can come in and take over the game. It's that simple.
With the Sox still facing the Tigers, this could be a great time to pick up more ground and hopefully pass Chicago, especially with the 3-game set in Chicago this weekend.
4 comments:
Benson's ERA this year is actually 4.63. But yeah, this isn't exactly a series of marquis pitcher's duels. Hopefully the Twins' hitters can show some patience with Loewen tonight, his control has been extremely poor since he's reached the big leagues.
Loewen has beaten the Yanks twice recently. Baltimore seems to play Minny tough. I will be happy to take 2 of 3 as a Twins fan, especially with these 3 somewhat inconsistant starters going for Minny.
Yeah, especially in Baltimore with their lineup... I would definitely be happy with 2 of 3.
Looks like the Twins should have put Lohse back in the rotation instead of Silva before. I know Lohse what somewhat of a head case but you can't argue with what he's doing with the Reds. Then again, it is the NL.
Let's get the next two.
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