Pregame
With Brian Buscher hitting the snot out of the ball on Saturday night, it's just good timing. The Twins continue their search for an upgrade at third base, and meanwhile their "stop-gap" is batting a scorching .333/.363/.467 in 105 at-bats. He's no defensive wiz at the hot corner, and his track record tells us he shouldn't be doing what he's doing, but that's part of the beauty of baseball. You can never predict with 100% accuracy what's going to happen.
And really, it's a good problem to have.
In the mean time, the Twins will continue to search for their upgrade, and we'll continue to speculate. But for today, Buscher's job is still his...although he may not get the start against Jeremy Sowers the southpaw.
Speaking of Sowers, he's having a tough time filling the hole the Indians needed him to. At 25, he's in his third season with Cleveland, but none of them have been nearly as promising (or rather, as lucky) as his rookie campaign. He doesn't strike people out, he can struggle to hit the strike zone, givez up a lot of hits, and a disturbing number of home runs. With only a single Quality Start under his belt this year, it's hard to say he's really had a "good" start at all. Against a team that hits for contact, like the Twins, Sowers will need a lot of luck to keep his club in the game for five or six innings. Having said that, this is the profile of the guy the Twins like to struggle against. I'm predicting: six innings, eight hits, four runs, three walks, three strikeouts.
On the Minnesota side of the hill, Nick Blackburn toes the rubber following his worst outing of the season. But thanks to three consecutive quality starts prior to the blasting he took in New York, his July ERA is still just 2.82. He's a control artist that relies on finesse and defense to be effective, and hopefully a depleted Cleveland lineup shouldn't give him too much trouble. I'm predicting: seven innings, five hits, two runs, one walk, four strikeouts.
Offensively, the Twins will likely go with a getaway day lineup before their series against the White Sox. I'm predicting: Span (CF), Casilla (2B), Redmond (C), Morneau (1B), Monroe (RF), Young (LF), Harris (3B), Lamb (DH), Punto (SS). Final score: Twins 6, Indians 3.