First Pitch: 3:05pm CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Athletics Nation
McCarthy, after years of being a young pitcher who people expected big things out of, is having the best season of his career. He turned 28 this month. His successes have been the result of career-low walk rates in conjunction with career-high ground ball rates. McCarthy has developed a cut fastball, turning his slider and changeup into little more than "show me" pitches. It's also reduced his reliance on a straight fastball, and he's using his curveball more this season. His fastball and curve are as valuable of offerings as they've ever been for McCarthy, and that cutter has done wonders for him. He'll be using it to bust out lefties inside today.
Even after yesterday's fiasco for Blackburn, Pavano has fewer strikeouts and a higher ERA. I'm not saying Pavano should leave the rotation, it's just food for thought if you're grabbing pitchforks over Blackburn's recent downturn. He needs to step it up, certainly, but all pitchers need opportunities to fight through the bad stretches. Of course, timing has more to do with this than anything else.
As for Pavano, he's coming off a couple of bad performances himself. His ERA has risen more than half a point since he lowered it to 4.08 three starts ago. Good defense today, and some Oakland hitters chasing pitcher's pitches would be great.
Twins
Revere, CF
Mauer, 1B
Cuddyer, 2B
Kubel, RF
Thome, DH
Valencia, 3B
Young, LF
Nishioka, SS
Butera, C
A's
Weeks, 2B
Crisp, CF
Matsui, DH
Willingham, LF
Jackson, 1B
Sweeney, RF
Pennington, SS
Suzuki, C
Sizemore, 3B