Game 148: Twins at Royals

First Pitch: 6:15 pm CDT

TV: FS1

Radio: WCCO 830, TIBN

At the time of writing, the Minnesota Twins have an elimination number of one, meaning that either a Cleveland win or a loss tonight in Kansas City would finally, mercifully, mathematically oust Joe Mauer and the Kasota Kids.

However, given that Cleveland is in the midst of a 13-0 smackdown on Detroit, the Twins will almost certainly have been eliminated by the time you click on this article and skim through the opening paragraphs, acknowledging to yourself that you’re only REALLY here to get recs in the comment section below.

I guess we can all take comfort in knowing that even if we HAD made the playoffs again this year, we would have just lost the Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium again. (Go, Oakland.)

Photo by Andy King/Getty Images

Minnesota’s Starter: Chase De Jong

(0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 4.0 IP, 11.3 K/9, 9.0 BB/9, 0.1 fWAR)

Last week, De Jong’s Twins debut doubled as his fifth career start, where he threw four shutout innings and walked as many batters, while striking out five. That was also against the Royals, as this four-game set has featured a lot of repeat matchups from Kansas City’s visit to Target Field last weekend. This time out, De Jong will look to get those errant pitches under control and into the zone, enabling him to get deeper into the game.

Photo by Andy King/Getty Images

Kansas City’s Starter: Ian Kennedy

(1-8, 4.92 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 100.2 IP, 8.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.7 fWAR)

Do you guys remember when Ian Kennedy went 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA, finishing fourth in Cy Young voting for the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks? Me neither! He didn’t even make the All-Star Game, which is especially odd given that the 2011 All-Star Game was in Arizona. But hey, maybe nobody noticed he was pitching well, and everyone henceforth forgot.

Kennedy was De Jong’s opponent on the 9th, and struck out six over six innings. It was his first start back since hitting the disabled list in July. Therefore, this will be his second start since returning. Analysis!

Tonight’s Lineups