Game 140: Twins at Red Sox

Your Minnesota Twins close out a series in Boston tonight, and hope to take away a victory for not just the game, but also the set. Boston won last night, as they out-bomba’d the Twins, and Jose Berrios did not have his best stuff. Surprisingly not-awful lefty Martin Perez takes the mound, after a poor showing in his last start. Hopefully he can right the ship. Boston will turn to Nathan Eovaldi, who has spent a significant amount of this season on the Injured List.

Eovaldi has faced the Twins a few times, with Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz, Jake Cave, and especially Max Kepler hitting well in small samples against him. Miguel Sano, Jonathan Schoop, and Marwin Gonzalez have not been as successful, but again, the samples are so small that tonight could entirely change that narrative. Perez, meanwhile has more-or-less shut down most of the Boston batters he’s seen, with the exception beings Sam Travis (whoever that is) and Mookie Betts. This one could literally be a classic pitcher’s duel, an utter blowout for either side, or a football-score shootout. I guess we can only wait and see what happens.

For Rocco Baldelli, his first place squad playing in Boston must be pretty special. According to the well-trusted source Wikipedia, Baldelli, who is a native New Englander grew up a fan of the Red Sox, and considered playing for them a dream. While he did spend an injury-marred 2009 season playing his home games at Fenway, I’m sure that sense of wonder never really goes away. With the storied history of the team/park, and his connection to the area, I’m sure these series are extra meaningful for the rookie manager.

Jon will be by with the recap tonight, but it might be running a little late, since your friendly Twinkie Town-ers all have day jobs, families, and lives outside of the site. Thank you for being understanding.