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First Pitch: 2:05pm CDT
Game Notes
- This is Ron Gardenhire's first opportunity for 1,000 career wins
- I know Cleveland will be better than the Twins this year, but their lineup tonight doesn't look that much better than Minnesota's
- Mike Pelfrey had a slow start last season due to his recovery process coming back from Tommy John surgery - I'm interested to see what he can do over a full season now that he should be fully healthy
- Chris Colabello's strong performance yesterday has earned him another start batting cleanup
- Kurt Suzuki is back behind the plate
Pitcher Preview
Danny Salazar is a 24-year old right-hander who made ten starts for Cleveland last season, striking out 30.8% of batters faced in 52 innings. He pairs a high-velocity fastball with a decent mid-80s slider and a plus changeup. He was confident and aggressive in his time in the Majors, pounding the strike zone and earning first-pitch strikes in two-thirds of opponent plate appearances. He's nasty enough to earn plenty of swings-and-misses, so if the Twins want to avoid digging themselves into a hole will need to be aggressive when they get their pitch.
Mike Pelfrey rebounded from a 6.11 ERA on June 18 to throw 62.2 innings of 3.45 ERA baseball in July and August. It was a drastic turnaround that many attributed to increased arm strength, confidence and ability after Tommy John surgery, and while it's hard to know just how true that was it's certainly safe to say that he was a distinctly different pitcher after the calendar turned to July. How good and how effective can Pelfrey be in 2014? The Twins gave him a two-year contract, so they have faith.
Lineups
Twins: Dozier (2B), Mauer (1B), Willingham (LF), Colabello (DH), Plouffe (3B), Arcia (RF), Suzuki (C), Hicks (CF), Florimon (SS)
Indians: Morgan (CF), Swisher (1B), Kipnis (2B), Santana (3B), Brantley (LF), Cabrera (SS), Murphy (RF), Gomes (C), Chisenhall (DH)