First Pitch: 7:10 PM
TV: FSN
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Bless You Boys
Fresh off a 5-4 roadtrip, the Twins jump right back into a nine-game homestand, starting with the only team to take a series from Minnesota this year, the Tigers. More about tonight's battle below.
Probable Pitchers
Baker and Scherzer met last Wednesday in Detroit. Neither was very good, and both were out of the showers comfortably ahead of the end of the game. Scherzer gave up six runs on ten hits, and was gone before the end of the fourth inning. Thus staked to a 6-1 lead, Baker immediately gave most of it back by allowing four Tiger runs in the bottom of the fourth, and when he gave up a double leading off the fifth, he was yanked unceremoniously.
As you might remember, this was the night that the Twins bullpen exploded in a shower of sparks and burning rivets, sending Pat Neshek to the "disabled list" and Jesse Crain once again to the blackest part of all Twins fans' hearts. Minnesota lost 11-6, after Neshek walked one guy, hit another, then departed in time for Crain to give up three consecutive doubles.
Let's just move on. Scherzer's last start was his first really bad one of the year - he didn't give up more than three earned runs in any of his first four. Baker, meanwhile, has given up eleven runs on nineteen hits in his last two outings, which does make you wonder if he should start Spring Training three months early, in the hopes of avoiding these awful Aprils.
Weather
It'll be cool and windy tonight, with the high topping out around 60 and the evening low likely headed for the mid-40s. Winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour should make for a brisk night at Target Field, and we could see some rain as well (it's been raining off and on in the metro area.)
Lineups
Are in the comments.