Nash Walker

Written by Nash Walker Saturday was a whirlwind for the Twins. You watched it. You read about it. Let's move on. Final: Minnesota 4, Oakland 5 Series Score: Minnesota 1, Oakland 2 Central Division: Minnesota by 3 over Cleveland MIchael Pineda takes the hill Sunday and is enjoying a spectacular July. In 12 innings, Pineda has struck out 12 and walked one. Pineda struggled in April and May, but his ERA has plummeted this summer. He is an efficient pitcher, allowing just two homers in his last eight starts. The Twins realistically have three (maybe four) available relievers to follow Pineda. Ryne Harper warmed up on Saturday but did not enter and should be ready after throwing 29 pitches on Friday. Kohl Stewart has yet to make an appearance after being called up and is seemingly the freshest arm in the pen. Trevor May has not pitched since Wednesday. Taylor Rogers is the only other reliever who would not be pitching for their third straight day. Daniel Mengden will start for Oakland and has done so seven times this year. He owns a 4.21 ERA and 1.3 WHIP. Mengden faced the Twins two weeks ago and allowed eight hits and five runs. Mengden walked 16 and struck out 34 in 47 innings this season. The Twins are batting .321 against Mengden in 53 at-bats. Jason Castro and Miguel Sano are 4/8 with a homer each. The Athletics are hitting a cool .172 with 10 strikeouts off Pineda in 29 at-bats . Khris Davis is 0/5, and Mark Canha is 0/3 with two strikeouts. Twins projected lineup: Assuming Buxton remains out (concussion) 1. Max Kepler CF 2. Marwin Gonzalez RF 3. Jorge Polanco DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. C.J Cron 1B 6. Luis Arraez 2B 7. Ehire Adrianza SS 8. Miguel Sano 3B 9. Jason Castro C Prediction: Nelson Cruz gets a day off before the Yankees. Michael Pineda rides his strong history to six more good innings of work. The Twins beat up on the porous Mengden. Kepler hits a bomba, Marwin has a big day, Polanco knocks in a few runs and Castro adds insurance late with a triple decker. Score: Minnesota 7, Oakland 3 Enjoy your Sunday!

Written by Nash Walker Game one recap: Eddie Rosario was the hero on Thursday, golfing a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 4-3 lead. Kyle Gibson pitched well and earned the victory on the bump. Mitch Garver and C.J Cron added much needed insurance in the eighth with solo homers. The final: 6-3 Minnesota. Series score: Minnesota 1-0. Game two is set for tonight and we will see Jake Odorizzi face off against Chris Bassitt. Odorizzi returned from the break with 89 pitches in Cleveland. Odorizzi could not get through the sixth but allowed just one run and picked up the victory to improve to 11-4. The All-Star was yanked after allowing a grand slam in his first meeting with Oakland on July 2nd. Odorizzi was hurting with a blister on his right middle finger. He was sent to the 10-day IL after the loss. Odorizzi is enjoying the best season of his career, sporting a 3.06 ERA and 9.4 strikeouts per nine. These numbers have actually regressed over the year. In early June, Odorizzi had a 1.92 ERA and a 10-2 record. In his last 23.2 innings (five starts), he has allowed 17 runs. Odorizzi has a 6-0 record and 2.27 ERA at home in 2019. Oakland sends right hander Chris Bassitt to the hill. Bassitt owns a 4.42 FIP and his BABIP of .253 is the lowest of his career. In 15 starts, Bassitt is 6-4. His last appearance was against the White Sox, where he pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Once again, Nelson Cruz has the largest history against the starter. He is 3/7 with two doubles. The Athletics have had some success against Odorizzi. The team has five homers in 72 at-bats. Two of those belong to Khris Davis, who has struggled mightily for over a month. His .718 OPS is the lowest of his career. This is a chance for Minnesota to strike early after finishing strong last night. It will be important to force Bassitt into tough situations and get to the relievers early. The A's bullpen pitched 1.2 innings last night and allowed three runs. Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario should return to the lineup and I suspect Jason Castro will start behind the dish. I do not believe Jonathan Schoop to be healthy enough to return, so Arraez figures to start at second. Buxton remains out with a concussion, so Jake Cave may get the start in right field with Kepler in center. Projected lineup: 1. Max Kepler CF 2. Jorge Polanco SS 3. Nelson Cruz DH 4. Eddie Rosario LF 5. C.J Cron 1B 6. Luis Arraez 2B 7. Miguel Sano 3B 8. Jason Castro C 9. Jake Cave RF Prediction: Minnesota rides Odorizzi, who holds down Oakland for the second straight night. The lineup scores a few on Bassitt and does enough to win. Final: Minnesota 3, Oakland 1

The stunning streak is over. Your Minnesota Twins finally fell for the third straight time on Wednesday, losing 14-4 to the Mets. Through 94 games, Minnesota is 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the first seed in the playoffs. This is the toughest stretch of the second half for the Twins. Oakland comes to town this evening for a four game set, and the Yankees will follow next week. Both teams are well above .500 and Oakland is red hot with a +31 run differential in five wins since the break. Perspective would suggest they pounded on poor teams, as the White Sox and Mariners are among the many rebuilders this season. Still, Oakland snatched two of three from Minnesota in their last meeting and the Twins losing series' is notable with how well they have performed. The opener will send Oakland's top man to the hill in Mike Fiers. The right hander has a 3.61 ERA in 20 starts. Fiers has strung together 10 straight quality starts, and hasn't given up more than one run since early June. Fiers went six full against the Twins on July 3rd, striking out four and allowing 5 hits. Twins Daily writer Ted Schwerzler acknowledged where this recent slump in the Twins lineup is coming from. It isn't Miguel Sano, who has built his average back up to .233. Nelson Cruz, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and C.J Cron all have sub .750 OPS numbers since the end of June. The usual producers aren't producing and relying on the developing young star Luis Arraez is exciting but detrimental. Kyle Gibson is also in a spot to return to form. Gibson could not get through the fourth in Cleveland after rolling to start the game. Fortunately, Gibson has been tremendous at Target Field in 2019. His 3.69 ERA and 5-1 record show this. Gibson has allowed just three home runs in 46.1 innings at home. He may have trouble navigating Matt Chapman and Khris Davis, but this Oakland lineup is manageable. In the last meeting, former Twins Robbie Grossman and Chris Herrmann went 12 for 18 with six RBIs. Herrmann is a career .208 hitter. Grossman has just 28 RBIs on the season and a total of 221 in his 7-year MLB career. This is a large opportunity for the Twins to post on Fiers, get to the Oakland bullpen early and for Kyle Gibson to confidently handle this strangely dangerous Athletics lineup. I foresee the cream rising to the top this evening. Nelson Cruz owns a .353 average and .929 OPS in 17 appearances against Fiers. Game 1 prediction: 6-2 Minnesota.