Twins Notebook 9/20: Sunday Night Baseball!

[Cooper Carlson]

The Twins and Cubs will face off for Sunday Night Baseball and both teams are bringing out their ace. The game will have a playoff feel as Darvish and Berrios battle for the win. Who will come out on top?Saturday Night’s Game Recap:

Big Inning Sparks Twins Win

 

TODAY

Twins @ Cubs: 6:08 CT

 

Twins Starter: Jose Berrios, RHP 4.15 ERA

 

Jose Berrios will get a taste of the spotlight before the playoffs even begin. He will be the starter for the Twins first game on Sunday Night Baseball since 2010. There is no one the Twins would rather have represent them than their homegrown starter Berrios. This could potentially have the feel of a playoff game so it’ll be interesting to watch Berrios.

 

Berrios didn’t look great in his last outing but he still managed to go five innings and give up just one run. He only struck out two batters so hopefully today he is back on his game. He certainly hasn’t faced any easy opponents this month, facing the White Sox twice as well as the Cardinals. Today he faces another division leader.

 

Cubs Starter: Yu Darvish, RHP 1.86 ERA

 

Darvish will face the Twins for the first time since becoming a Cub in 2018. Before he signed a 6 year, $126 million with Chicago he nearly signed with Minnesota which would be the largest contract with the Twins. He is now in the midst of his best season of his career and could come home with the NL Cy Young Award in 2020. He also throws at least six pitches including the slowest curve you will see this season.

 

In ten starts this season, Darvish has allowed three or more runs just two times. He has not faced an offense as good as the Twins offense should be in about a month so maybe they can get the jump on Darvish. This game has the making of a game one playoff feeling with Berrios and Darvish going at it.

 

Twins Lineup

 

News & Notes:

 

-The Twins clinched the playoffs for the second season in a row last night. It is extremely likely they will travel to Yankee Stadium for the playoffs. Bring it on.

 

 

-Tonight’s game will be the Twins first time on Sunday Night Baseball since 2010. They replaced the Red Sox and Yankees. Weird.

 

-With six games remaining this season, the Twins are 3.0 games behind Chicago for the AL Central title. It is looking like the Twins will be a second place team in the playoffs which really doesn’t matter.

 

AROUND THE AL CENTRAL

 

1. CWS 34-18 (-)

2. MIN 32-22 (3.0 GB)

3. CLE 28-24 (6.0 GB

4. DET 22-29 (11.5 GB)

5. KCR 21-31 (13.0 GB)

 

Tigers 5, Indians 2

White Sox 5, Reds 0

Brewers 5, Royals 0

 

See Also:

 

Beneath the Dugout: Twins Ball Boy Tark Ericksen

Jose Berrios and the Human Element in Baseball

Max Disappointment

 

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[DocBauer]

I think tonight's game is HUGE despite being 1 game. The entire road trip looks much better with a win and the Dirty Sox and Yankees both lost earlier today. We can pick up a game on each with a win tonight. That could be huge in final standings.

 

The Yankees have to play 4 on the road against a decent Blue Jays team and the Sox have the Indians for 4, on the road, before a final 3 against the Cubs. The Yankees finish against the Marlins for their final 3, and the Sox clearly have the tougher finish.

 

Can we pass the Yankees if we take care of business? Can we catch Chicago? Good time to be Blue Jay and Indian fans to close out the season.

[Aichiman]

We are now two games behind Chicago.  Next week they have to go to Cleveland and play four games.  Then they come home and play three against the cubs.  With two against Detroit and three against the Red, all at home, our Twins could very well win the division.  And even if we don't we got the consolation of being one up on the Yanks (as I type) for home field advantage. The sun is shining today!