Series Preview: Twins hope for recovery against struggling A’s

The Twins find themselves 5.5 games out of first, below five hundred, and on a four game losing streak. Not a lot of silver lining to be found in the last week or so. At least we didn’t get blown out by the best team in baseball. That’s something I think.

The next stop is the MLB’s worst ballpark. Fittingly, one of the MLB’s worst teams plays there. The only AL team with a worse record than Oakland is the White Sox. The NL has several worse teams, but you don’t care, because (non-Bartolo) pitchers batting is boring. The Moneyballers play in a stadium known for leaking raw sewage. Somehow I should make that a metaphor for the Twins bullpen, but they aren’t even worth the effort anymore.

Did you know they Oakland A’s used to be the Kansas City A’s? I always forget that part of their history. The stupid Royals were the team that replaced them. One more thing to hold against Oakland. That and their stupid, late, west coast start times.

On the hopefully less-negative front, Jaime Garcia makes his Twins debut for game one. He hit a grand slam last time he pitched, I’m just hoping he doesn’t give up any this time. The only Athletics with any kind of statistically significant batting appearances against our new leftie are KKKKhris Davis who is 2-for-11 with a home run and 4 strikeouts; and Jed Lowrie at 0-for-7. His opponent is something called Daniel Gossett, which sounds like the main love-interest in an old-timey romance novel. “The butler walked into the parlor and emotionlessly stated ‘M’ladies, there are a Mr. Darcy and a Mr Gossett requesting an audience.’” High school English Lit classes may have left me with some emotional scars. Anyway, Gossett has a 5.40 ERA this season, and has allowed as many runs as strikeouts, but has never faced the Twins. Naturally, he will probably pitch seven scoreless innings.

After Garcia, the Twins will send out the big boys. Literally. Adalberto Mejia faces Oakland for the first time in his career for game two, and after the bullpen blew it in his short start against Detroit, hopefully he can stay out a bit longer. He faces Chris Smith, who sounds made up as well. The only Twin to ever face Smith is Joe Mauer. In classic Lazy Joe fashion, he hasn’t bothered getting a hit in his two at-bats, but did strike out once.

Following Mejia, things get even bigger and sexier on the mound for the Twins. Bartolo Colon has once again survived to pitch another day. Myjah should keep writing about how things are his “Last Whatever.” He’s up there with Twinkies, cockroachs, and Mick Jagger. The good news: Bartolo has only given up 2 career home runs to the A’s. The Bad News: that’s only 41 at-bats. His projected opponent is Jharel Cotton, who is coming back from a finger injury, and struck out 9 batters in his Triple-A rehab start. In his one career start against the Twins, earlier this year, he bamboozled the batters. Only Chris Giminez and Eddie Rosario notched a hit against him. Rosie did stroke a dong though.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Friday, July 28; 9:05 PM CT — Jaime Garcia LHP vs Daniel Gossett RHP

Game 2: Saturday, July 29; 8:05 PM CT — Adalberto Mejia LHP vs Chris Smith RHP

Game 3: Sunday, July 30; 3:05 PM CT — Bartolo Colon RHP vs Jharel Cotton RHP

Notes

• At some point soon Byron Buxton should be back from the DL. That bodes poorly for people’s champion Zack Granite. Watch for roster moves. If they’ve already happened, ignore this note.
• ICYMI Jaime Garcia is wearing #24 for the Twins. He’s worn #54 most of his career, but that number is taken by Ervin Santana.
• The A’s are known sellers. The Twins are... well they traded for Garcia. Could we get a rare opposite dugout trade scenario here? Possible, but not likely. Trade deadline is Monday.