With a W today the Twins win their first series since taking three of four from the Royals at the end of June. Sure, it's swimming upstream, but any day you come away with a win is a good one. I'm feeling optimistic today.
Twins: Span (CF), Revere (RF), Mauer (C), Willingham (DH), Morneau (1B), Plouffe (3B), Doumit (LF), Dozier (SS), Casilla (2B)
Orioles: Markakis (RF), Hardy (SS), Thome (DH), Jones (CF), Wieters (C), Betemit (3B), Davis (LF), Reynolds (1B), Flaherty (2B)
It's those damned home runs that keep adding up. If Cole can keep the ball in the park, he has a chance. His numbers are solid outside of that area.
Like De Vries, Chen suffers the longball curse. Anytime you're on pace to give up nearly 30 bombs over the course of a full season, you've got something special happening. Not good special, but perhaps fun for the opposition. And it's not even that his home run-to-fly ball ratio is completely skewed. It's not good, but he's just a fly ball pitcher. The lefty turns 27 on Sunday, and offers the standard arsenal: fastball, changeup, slider, curve.