Starting Pitchers
Scott Baker goes after his third win on the season this afternoon. Baker's undoing so far this season has been the gopher ball. His 14 HR allowed is second in the majors to Brett Myers (17). The last three games (6 HR allowed) have not given Twins fans reasons for optimism, at least from a gopher ball perspective. The good news for Baker is that, other than the HRs, his SO/BB ratio (3.90) is above his career average (3.39). That's pretty much it for good news. HR/FB (15.9%) will probably come back down to earth, but Baker has become even more of a fly ball pitcher this year (0.56 GB/FB vs 0.73 for career), which over a full season would mean an extra 4-5 HR allowed. Line drive rate (20.3%) is pretty much in line with career (21.3%) numbers, indicating his BABIP (.282) is again lucky, just like last year (.290).
Fausto Carmona has been killed by walks this year (38 BB in 58.2 IP), walking more batters than he has struck out. Since his stellar 2007 season (finished 4th in AL Cy Young voting), Carmona has walked well over 5 batters per 9 innings, not an indicator of success for any pitcher, much less someone who strikes out around 5.5 batters per 9. Fausto provides a sharp contrast to Baker with his 93-94 MPH sinking fastball. His career GB/FB ratio is 2.74, one of the highest in MLB. It will be interesting to see if the Twins can elevate enough of Carmona's pitches to move the walked baserunners around the basepaths.
Lineups
Not available yet, I'll post as soon as they are available. Considering the long road trip, I would not be surprised to see Joe Mauer get a day off, but with injuries to Michael Cuddyer and others, the bench is thin.