Game 36: Twins at Athletics

First Pitch: 8:40 PM
TV: Bally Sports North
Radio: TIBN, twinsbeisbol.com
Know Thine Enemy: Athletics Nation

Welcome to the first West Coast swing of the season! Let’s all sleepwalk through the rest of the week together...

The Twins look to take advantage of a relatively soft spot in their schedule. Unfortunately, it starts on the road, and it starts in Oakland. The Oakland Coliseum has been something of a House of Horrors for the Twins over the past decade or so (11-26 going back to 2010, to be exact), but here’s where I remind myself and everyone else that the team is different this year, yadda, yadda yadda. I’ll believe that the Twins can play good baseball in Oakland when I see it.

Still, it’s the right spot to do it in, with the A’s scuffling to a 15-22 start to the season. The Twins will send Chris Archer to the bump, while Oakland will trot out Zach Logue, who hurled seven scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers last time out and held the Twins to two earned runs on five hits over five innings two outings ago at Target Field.

Oh — Byron Buxton is in the lineup and playing a second consecutive game in centerfield! See? Plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Enjoy late-night baseball!