Pregame after the jump...Pregame
Who is Dana Eveland? He's a 24-year old southpaw who's had his ups and downs, but overall hasn't had a horrible season. Mostly he's been fine, with a good start from time to time while peppering in some horrendous ones. Five days ago in Seattle he threw seven strong innings, striking out seven and allowing just one run. In 23 starts this season he's been tossing out the standard arsenal: Fastball (89-91 mph), curveball (77-81), slider (81-84) and a changeup (82-84). He's also a ground-ball pitcher, inducing a 48% rate over parts of the last four seasons.
Nick Blackburn is looking to put the Twins back on a winning streak, and in spite of not getting through five innings his last time out still has a 3.32 ERA in his last 10 starts. When we analyzed his last two starts last weekend, we discovered that Blackburn got better results when he was able to put more spin on the ball--so his big key for tonight, clearly, is to get a good feel for his pitches and to make sure his delivery is strong and consistent.
For the Twins against a lefty, I'll wager: Span (RF), Casilla (2B), Mauer (C), Morneau (1B), Ruiz (DH), Young (LF), Harris (3B), Punto (SS), Gomez (CF)
For Oakland I'll expect something like this: Davis (CF), Crosby (SS), Cust (LF), Thomas (DH), Suzuki (C), Hannahan (3B), Barton (1B), Gonzalez (RF), Patterson (2B)