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First pitch: 1:10pm CDT
TV: FS-N
Radio: K-TWIN, TIBN, BOB FM
Know Thine Enemy: Lookout Landing
Mariners: Saunders (CF), Bay (LF), Seager (3B), Morales (DH), Ibanez (RF), Liddi (1B), Triunfel (2B), Sucre (C), Ryan (SS)
Twins: Escobal (3B), Mauer (1B), Willingham (DH), Doumit (C), Parmelee (RF), Herrmann (LF), Dozier (2B), Hicks (CF), Florimon (SS)
Even if you give him a pass on his 3-run, 5.2-inning performance in Detroit (which is hard to do considering how many base runners he had), Diamond has still been pummeled in three of his last four starts. Since May 7, his ERA has ballooned from 3.03 to 5.22 (giving up 19 earned runs in 20.1 innings). The command hasn't been there, which means things could be worse. But we do need him to get that command back and break himself out of this slump.
I will always remember Jeremy Bonderman for being one of Detroit's young and terrible pitchers. So will SB Nation, apparently, since we still see him in a Tiger's cap. As a 20-year old in 2003 he lost 19 games, which was just as much his fault as it was the fault of the Tigers' terrible offense.
Ten years later, Bonderman is 30 years old and hasn't thrown a Major League pitch since October 1, 2010. His start before that one was against the Twins, where Minnesota launched three homers for seven runs in four innings. Sadly, you could say the exact same thing about Carl Pavano that day, and Detroit won 11-10. Bonderman clearly wasn't involved in the decision.
In his career, the Twins have hit Bonderman better than any other American League team: .328/.374/.512 in 461 plate appearances. Obviously this isn't the same Twins team that used to slap him around, but this isn't the same Bonderman, either. He's probably worse. In 11 starts for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate he owns a 4.52 ERA, thanks to 77 hits in 63.2 innings. He'd only walked 18, but he'd also only struck out 33. If the Twins don't pound him today, it's a sad day for America.