Game 41: Angels at Twins

First Pitch: 6:40p Central
Picture Show: FOX Sports North; fubo.tv (subscription)
Wiggly Air Waves: WCCO 830 AM, Treasure Island Baseball Network (English); twinsbeisbol.com (espanol)
Be Aware of the Opposition: Halos Heaven

With a loss due to a LOBster-fest last night, the Minnesota Twins look to come back and win in game two and force a rubber match against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States, for tomorrow’s get-away day game. My eighth-grade social studies teacher said that California would break off and fall into the ocean by 2020. I’m still waiting.

For the Twins, Kyle Gibson’s turn in the rotation is tonight, and he’s looking to notch his fourth quality start and W of the year. His three quality starts and wins have come in his lsat four starts, so it may be safe to say (for TJ’s sake) that he’s starting to get back on track after his bout with E. coli. Gibson will try to feed off his last outing - a gem, to say the least - against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, where he recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in six innings and allowing only one earned run that came on a homer. If you don’t listen to the pre-game show on the radio, I recommend it - especially on Mondays as Gibson does an interview with a teammate in a segment called “Meeting on the Mound.”

The Angels are doing the opener-primary pitcher thing tonight, with Cam Bedrosian getting the nod. He’s opened twice for the American League Los Angeles team this season, going two innings total, striking out one batter and issuing two walks. On the season, he’s sporting at 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched, allowing six earned runs and has a K/9 of 10.7.

Bedrosian will be followed by Felix Pena, who’s doing the primary pitcher thing for the fourth time in a row this season. His last outing was against the Detroit Tigers, where the Angels won handily by a score of 13-0 behind Pena’s outing of 7 IP, 3 H, 7 K. His season numbers are very respectable: 7 games (four traditional starts plus the three games as primary), 3.21 ERA, 12 ER, 34 K, 7 BB, 6 HR, and serving up just over nine strikeouts per nine innings.

GO tWINs GO!