Game 85: Twins at Athletics

First Pitch: 8:07 p.m. Central Time (AKA an hour earlier than last night!)
TV: FOX Sports North; fubo.tv (subscription)
Radio: WCCO 830 AM, Treasure Island Baseball Network; twinsbeisbol.com (español)
Know Thine Enemy: Athletics Nation

Somehow, the Minnesota Twins are still the only team in all of Major League Baseball that have not lost three games in a row this season. In related news, it’s July 3rd.

The Twins have been playing with fire lately, however, losing two consecutive games on four separate occasions over the past two-and-a-half weeks. That includes losing four of their last five games, with a 10-3 beatdown of the White Sox on Saturday the only positive result in the past week.

Minnesota will send Kyle Gibson to the bump in this one. We saw Gibby last on Thursday evening, when he pitched a clean inning in the midst of the 18-inning marathon loss to Tampa Bay. His next start was pushed back, so he’ll be taking the mound as a starter for the first time since last Tuesday, when he gave up four earned runs over seven innings against the Rays but came away with the win in a 9-4 Twins victory.

Before that, Gibson gave up six earned runs to the Red Sox in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings. And, in typical Gibby fashion, the start before that featured eight shutout innings in a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Royals.

All that said ... we really don’t have any idea which Kyle Gibson will show up in this one, but here’s hoping that it’s good one, I suppose.

Opposite Gibson will be Mike Fiers, who has been on a roll of late. While his season ERA of 4.01 is just okay, he’s given up just one earned run and pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts. He’s only struck out 66 batters in 101 innings pitched on the season, however, so the Twins have plenty of chances to take some hacks.

Also, no pressure or anything, but Cleveland is now within seven games of the Twins. So if y’all could win one that would be great, Rocco and Co.

Enjoy the game!