Trying to beat the Yankees
To make matters worse, the Twins used just about their entire bullpen on Tuesday. Joe Nathan threw 21 pitches on Tuesday, but if needed, I wouldn't be surprised to see him called upon late in the game. Jon Rauch threw just 4 pitches on Tuesday, so he should be fresh enough to pitch an inning. Jose Mijares has been pretty shaky the past 2 weeks and Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain racked up decent pitch counts against the Tigers.
The odds are stacked heavily against the Twins in the first game of the series, but they'll have Thursday off and then be able to return with Nick Blackburn on Friday, Carl Pavano on Sunday (at home) and Scott Baker on Monday, if needed.
The Twins are 0-7 against the Yankees this season, but have not played them since the July 7-9 series at the dome. The Twins are a much different team than they were then. Although they've lost Justin Morneau and Joe Crede, they've managed to restore their bullpen, filled a void at SS with Orlando Cabrera and have seen Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young fill an offensive void.
The Twins have won 5 straight with their backs against the wall. They now have their toughest opponent, but ironically have more breathing room than they've had in the past week. Whether that's a good thing or not is yet to be determined.
Topics: Joe Nathan, Jon Rauch, Detroit Tigers, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Carl Pavano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Minnesota Twins
5 Comments
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jeffOct 7, 2009 10:42:26 AM
The Twins were 0-7 against the Yanks, but don't forget 3 walk-off wins are included in that, which means that we hung w/ them. This is a much more dangerous team than the one that lost 7 games.
R.J.Oct 7, 2009 12:37:32 PM
"This is a much more dangerous team than the one that lost 7 games."
True, but that can be said for both sides. After the Twins series, the Yankees played close to .700 ball until they wrapped up the AL East with a large chunk of those games against the Sox and Angels. Don't underestimate that Yankee team.
ExhaustOct 7, 2009 02:42:48 PM
Go Twins!! I bet they're beat but hopefully they can start this series off right. I'm exhausted from just being in the crowd last night!
KrisOct 7, 2009 04:05:34 PM
R.J., that's a good point. I just looked it up and the Yankees are 52-25 (.675 win percentage) since they last played the Twins on July 9th. At that point they had a .600 winning percentage.
Clearly both teams have heated up since their last meeting.
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Oct 7, 2009 08:04:14 AM
I think the Twins will lose tonight's game, out of exhaustion... but they will be in decent shape for game 2-4.