Game 114: Twins vs. White Sox

First Pitch: 7:10 pm, CDT

TV: Bally Sports North

Radio: WCCO 830, Audacy, The Wolf 102.9 FM, TIBN

Know Thine Enemy: SSS

Well, this game couldn’t possibly go worse than yesterday’s slapstick fright night, right?

The Twins are using an actual starting pitcher who hasn’t been dubbed “The Vomit Rocket”, so they’ve got that going for them, which is nice. Instead, tonight they’ll be trotting out Sir Griffin of House Jax, who has allowed three total earned runs in his last three outings, which lasted a total of 14.1 innings. His ERA has steadily dropped over this period from 8.66 (terrible) to 5.63 (basically the minimum requirement for an MLB pitcher). However, he did take down this very same White Sox team in the first of those three outings, so perhaps our starter/opener won’t give up 7 runs in 2 innings today.

On the other side, Dallas Keuchel, who looks to have finally started to drop off, will be taking the mound. Keuchel sports a 4.44 ERA and strikes out next to nobody- although he isn’t always facing the likes of Miguel Sano, so maybe that second point is irrelevant.

Other things of note- Josh Donaldson is back in the lineup today, so perhaps some entertainment will stem from his ongoing spat with the Chicago White Sox organization. Likewise, Willians Astudillo is starting at third base, although he may end up pitching by the 9th inning. I suppose I also should mention that Eloy Jimenez has 4 home runs in his last two games, so how the Twins pitch him may be something to keep an eye on.

Lastly, Beau “Vomit Rocket” Burrows was sent back down today in favor of one Nick Vincent, and Alex Kirilloff’s season is officially over after being sent to the 60-day IL.

LINEUPS