Game 161: Royals @ Twins

Time: 12:05 (6:05 GMT). Vegas Line: KC -115/+105 MIN, Natch

Weather: Sunny, 61 On The Field, Dank And Dreary In Your Heart

Opponent SB Site: Royals Review

TV: Broadcast Fox! I Had Been Excited About This! Radio: eh

Which inspirational TV character quote do you prefer?

From Doctor Who: "I am and always will be the optimist; the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams."

From Homer Simpson: "No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you."

The Twins today face Yordano Ventura. The Doctor Whos among you can note how flummoxed Twins batters were against slow-throwing Chris Young last night, and take heart: Ventura hurls straight gas. He averages 96+ on his fastball and 86.5 on his change. It's the curve that gets batters out most. Dozier, Plouffe, and Escobar have hit him hard.

Homer Simpsons might think, "oh, great, a hard thrower after a slow thrower. Our guys will be confuddled and doomed." The Twins' most cerebral batter, Mauer, has been awful against Ventura.

As I'm sure you're aware, Tommy Milone tries to CPR the Twins' season. Doctors, rejoice, as Milone owns the superior ERA. Simpsons, weep away about baBIP & FIP. Digits:

I guess we're at the point of motivational videos, so here's one.

At least that Astros game isn't until much later, so the Twins can't actually be eliminated during this one. Although, of course, they could always fall behind 17-0 or such and basically be eliminated before the final out. Remember what Yogi Berra said: "it ain't over until you're chasing two teams with two games left to play, then it's pretty much over."

Lineups!