After last night's victory, the Twins now have a FIVE GAME WINNING STREAK, all against AL Central opponents. On the flip side, the Indians now have a five game losing streak. And I know it's probably premature to talk about the division lead, but with a win tonight the Twins would cut their deficit to 10.5 games behind the Indians. I know it's still a lot, but improving by six games in the standings in a week is about all one can hope for.
Francisco Liriano makes his first start tonight after returning from the DL and left shoulder inflammation. Hopefully the injury was minor and just a bump in the road, as opposed to a harbinger of future rotator cuff surgery. As always, ability to throw strike one will be key to Liriano getting ahead in the count and making hitters chase the nasty slider.
I don't know about you, but it seems like the Twins face Carlos Carrasco every time they play the Twins. Last time the Twins saw him, at Target Field in April, the offense pounded him for six hits and two walks over three innings, but they only managed two runs. Boy was April fun. Carrasco is a sinker ball pitcher who hasn't been getting many ground ball outs this year, as he came into the season with a career ground out to air out ratio well over 2.0, and this ratio is only 1.29 so far this season. Sounds a lot like Nick Blackburn on a bad day, hopefully that's what the Twins will see tonight.