UPDATE: The start time has been pushed back to 3:30 pm.
First Pitch: 3:10pm CDT
TV: FSN
Radio: Twins Radio Network
Know Thine Enemy: Royals Review
I hope y'all in KC are staying dry. Weather looks fantastic up here in Minny.
The Twins have been freefalling for a while, but don't worry because help is on the way in the forms of P.J. Walters and Esmerling Vasquez. Also, I suppose you could lump in Matt Carson, who was called up just prior to the Sept. 1st deadline, so he will be eligible for the playoff roster. Wait, the Twins have been out of the playoff race for months? Oh, okay then.
Cole De Vries is starting for the Twins, and he'll need to limit the home runs if he wants to have success today. In the big leagues this year, De Vries has allowed 1.92 HR/9, which is nearly double the major league average (1.03). Everything else for him is solid (6.36 K/9, 2.04 BB/9, .255 batting average against), but it's those pesky home runs that have caused his ERA to be above 4 and a half.
On the other side, the Royals have Will Smith pitching, which means that Bel-Air is coming to Kansas City today. Okay, now that we've got our Fresh Prince joke out of the way, Smith is one of the many rookies that have debuted for the Royals over the past couple seasons, and he's having a fairly similar year to De Vries. Smith has a 5.55 ERA, and his formula for a lack of success compared to De Vries has been a couple fewer homers, but more hits and walks allowed. So naturally, we'll have a pitcher's duel for Game 1
Lineups will be posted when I can find them.
Twins
- Darin Mastroianni, CF
- Jamey Carroll, 2B
- Josh Willingham, DH
- Justin Morneau, 1B
- Ryan Doumit, C
- Chris Parmelee, RF
- Trevor Plouffe, 3B
- Matt Carson, LF
- Pedro Florimon, SS
SP Cole De Vries
Royals
- Lorenzo Cain, CF
- Alcides Escobar, SS
- Alex Gordon, LF
- Billy Butler, DH
- Mike Moustakas, 3B
- Brayan Pena, C
- Jeff Francoeur, RF
- Eric Hosmer, 1B
- Johnny Giavotella, 2B
SP Will Smith