Weekend Preview: Brewers at Twins June 30th, 2006 at 8:30 am
The Twins are riding their second longest winning streak of the season (7 games) which is separated by only 1 loss from their longest winning streak of 8 games. Milwaukee is a mediocre team, so I expect the Twins to keep things rolling through the weekend. The pitching matchups will be as follows:
- Friday: Radke (6-7, 5.40) vs. Villanueva (0-0, 2.65)
- Saturday: Silva (4-8, 6.43) vs. Capuano (9-4, 3.10)
- Sunday: Liriano (8-1, 2.21) vs. Jackson (1-0, 4.70)
The middle game will be the key to the series. I like the Twins’ chances on Friday and Sunday, so they should win at least 2 of 3. Capuano is a tough lefty and although Silva has been better lately he hasn’t been totally convincing. If the Twins can pull out Saturday’s game, it would surely be a bonus.
The White Sox play the Cubbies and the Tigers play the Pirates over the weekend. In other words, don’t expect the Twins to gain any ground this weekend.
Stewart to Return
Shannon Stewart will rejoin the team on Friday night and it appears he’ll primarily DH. I suspect the regular lineup will be:
- Stewart, DH
- Castillo, 2B
- Mauer, C
- Cuddyer, RF
- Morneau, 1B
- Hunter, CF
- Kubel, LF
- Punto, 3B
- Bartlett, SS
Luis Castillo has been miserable the past month and hasn’t been very effective in the leadoff spot. I was among many that called for Castillo to be moved into the leadoff spot early in the season, but it’s not working out well. I’m not so sure his problem is with adjusting to the leadoff spot; he did some leadoff work in Florida. He’s, of course, had problems with his legs all season and for a guy that relies on his speed to get on base, that’s not good. Stewart isn’t the best leadoff hitter in baseball, but he figures to get on base more often than Castillo has.
With the return of Stewart, I’d say we have a pretty formidable lineup now. We could surely use an upgrade at 3B, but that discussion can wait until we get within 5 or 6 games of Detroit and Chicago.
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2 Comments
Kris wrote: June 30th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Oh, Nice info Chris. I hadn't yet looked ahead at Detroit's schedule. Oakland and Seattle are both battling for the West and both have been playing well lately.
I just looked and the White Sox finish up the first half against Baltimore and Boston, so the Twins could gain some ground on them too.
The Twins have a relatively easy schedule of Kansas City and Texas coming up.
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Chris wrote: June 30th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Adding Stewart to the lineup again should be a big boost. The Twins have a great shot to finally make a move on the Tigers next week when the Tigers play on the west coast against the A's and Mariners.