First Pitch: 1:10pm CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: DRays Bay
What better way to celebrate America's birthday than by matching those old traditional rivals, the Rays and the Twins. Or something like that. At least Canada Day is come and gone. Hey, hosers - get your own long holiday weekend, eh?
Valencia is 4-for-4 against Price in their career matchup, but other than that it's safe to say that Price has either owned the opposition (Cuddyer is 0-for-9) or he hasn't seen them (Thome, for example). In general, Price has dominated Minnesota: 21.1 innings, 26 strikeouts, 1.69 ERA. He strikes out a lot of batters, doesn't walk many, and he doesn't give up many hits, either.
Price can pitch. The Twins will need to prove they can weather the storm if they want a hope in hell of winning today.
Brian Duensing has made 15 starts this year, and he's failed to complete the third inning twice. He has no chance.
Okay, it's not that bad. Duensing did manage three quality starts in June, along with three wins. But he gave up a lot of baserunners and got bombed once and frankly, after staring at Shields's stats for a half-hour, I feel like the ol' Duenslinger is bringing a water pistol to a Bazooka fight. Good luck, son. You'll need it.