Know Thine Enemy: Purple Row
The Colorado Rockies come into town tonight on an interleague roll, having swept the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend and winning 16 of their last 20 interleague games. The Twins come in after a rare interleague series loss against the Atlanta Braves, losing two of three and scoring only seven runs over three games while throwing out some putrid lineups. Tonight is the first night Orlando Hudson can come off the DL, but Joe C notes that Gardy isn't sure Hudson is ready.
Starting pitchers and lineups after the jump.
After a number of seasons cut short with injuries, Carl Pavano has been a workhorse for the Twins this season, pitching at least seven innings in 10 of his 12 starts. With a solid 1.17 WHIP, base runners have not been as much of a problem as last season (1.37 WHIP). Pavano has never been much of a strikeout pitcher (5.86 career SO/9, 5.38 this season), but he doesn't walk batters either (career 2.33 BB/9, 1.46 this season). BABIP (.290) and LD% (21.3%) suggest that luck has been a factor in allowing hitters a .263 batting average (.278 career), but with a solid infield defense behind him, Pavano has returned to form as a ground ball pitcher (1.40 GB/FB ratio), in line with his career year in 2004 (18-8, 3.00 ERA). Don't let the 6-6 record fool you, as the Twins have scored 5, 0, 0, 2, 3, and 1 run in his six losses.
Aaron Cook is an extreme sinkerballer (career 2.43 GB/FB ratio) tailor made for success in the high altitude of Coors Field. His problem has been pitching outside of Colorado, as Cook has had a 6.81 ERA away from Coors and 2.62 at home. Cook does not give up many home runs (4 in 70+ innings, career 0.74 HR%), but it appears a regression may be in order as fly balls have not left the yard (5.8% HR/FB). But I would not expect Target Field to be a location where a regression is expected. The main reason for Cook's extreme home-road splits is a large difference in BABIP at home (.235) versus away (.356) despite nearly identical line drive rates (16.7% vs 16.9%).