Game 35: Twins at Blue Jays

First Pitch: 6:07p Central
Television: FOX Sports North; fubo.tv (subscription)
Radio: WCCO 830 AM, Treasure Island Baseball Network (English); twinsbeisbol.com (español)
Know Thine Enemy: Bluebird Banter

Does there have to be an off day tomorrow?

The Twins come into play on Wednesday evening carrying the second-best winning percentage in baseball with a 22-12 record and only trailing the 23-12 Tampa Bay Rays by half-game.

For as good as the offense has been — and it’s been great, ranking third in the MLB in OPS and fourth in OPS+ — the starting pitching has come on strong of late, to say the least.

The Blue Jays have been shutout in 18 consecutive innings against the Twins, including seven shutout innings from Martin Perez on Monday and seven shutout innings from Jose Berriors on Tuesday night. Now, it’s Kyle Gibson’s turn.

Gibson was a hard-luck loser last time out, giving up five total runs in five innings to the Yankees in New York, but only two of the runs were earned. There was an uncharacteristic three-base error from Byron Buxton in center field and a horrendous missed catch error from C.J. Cron at first base that each led to runs.

Gibson was far from perfect, needing 100 pitches to get through five innings and giving up a home run to Gary Sanchez. But he pitched well enough to have a shot at winning, and instead, the Twins offense mustered just three runs and his normally stout defense left a lot to be desired.

He’ll face off against Trent Thornton, who is 0-3 with a 4.08 ERA and has yet to pick up a win as a big-leaguer. The Twins beat him at Target Field back on April 17, scoring four runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings. No Twins batter took Thornton deep in that game, although Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, and Nelson Cruz all had doubles.

Thornton has pitched much better of late, however, throwing seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Rangers last time out, which came on the heels of just one run allowed in five innings against Oakland.

Here’s hoping the Twins can win a third straight game and wrap-up another series sweep and a winning road trip.

Enjoy the game!