Game 75: Twins at Guardians

First Pitch: 6:10 PM
TV: Bally Sports North
Radio: TIBN, twinsbeisbol.com
Know Thine Enemy: Covering the Corner

It was less than a week ago that the Twins dropped two of three at home to the Cleveland Guardians and found themselves in a first-place tie for the first time in a long time.

Since the Guardians left town on Thursday, the Twins won two out of three against the Rockies, Cleveland was swept at home by the Red Sox, and we all found out together (and by “we all” I mean you, me, and virtually the entire Twins roster) that Wes Johnson is leaving the Twins for the greener pastures of LSU and the juggernaut that is SEC sports.

(The fact that the pitching coach role at LSU pays something like twice what MLB teams pay their staff is ... something. But let’s not go there right now.)

Let’s continue riding high on the fumes of Byron Buxton blazing around the bases for triples in consecutive games this weekend, and here’s hoping that Buxton (in center field, no less!) can do the same damage against the Guardians.

The Twins will send Sonny Gray out to take on Triston McKenzie in a fun pitching matchup.

Gray stumbled a bit against the Guardians last week, giving up three runs on eight hits in just four innings. He only went 4 ¹⁄₃ innings the last time he faced Cleveland as well, back on May 13. In between the two starts, however, Gray only gave up three earned runs in 20 innings split across four starts against Oakland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Seattle.

McKenzie had an even rougher go in the matchup of division rivals last week, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in just 4 ¹⁄₃ innings to the Twins. On the season, McKenzie has a 3.51 ERA and is throwing the ball a bit closer to expectations set in his tantalizing rookie campaign back in 2020 than what he displayed last season.

Enjoy Monday evening baseball!