Game 58: Yankees at Twins

First pitch: 6:40 PM

TV: FS1, Bally Sports North, YESN

Radio: TIBN, twinsbeisbol.com

Know thine enemy: Pinstripe Alley

The year is 2052. The Twins have a .277 winning percentage versus the Yankees over the past 50 years. They've lost 45 consecutive playoff games against New York, but the vibes are high as veteran Blaze Buxton leads the red-hot Twins into yet another October battle with the evil empire...

-snaps back to reality-

The year is 2022. The Twins have a .277 winning percentage against the Yankess over the past 20 years. They've lost 13 straight playoff games against New York, and the vibes are low as veteran Byron Buxton leads the injury-crippled Twins into yet another June battle with the evil empire.

Oh crap, reality wasn't any better.

However, hope springs eternal as all-star shortstop Carlos Correa makes his return tonight. Additionally, the (by default) current staff ace Chris Archer is taking the mound and manager Rocco Baldelli shrewdly saved all three of his "good" relievers for a more winnable game instead of pitching them down 1 run in the 7th inning yesterday.

We'll see how that works out against the current probable starting AL all-star starting pitcher, Nestor "the Annoyance" Cortes. Cortes has been masterful so far this year, posting a 1.50 ERA over 10 starts.

In other Twins news, rookie stud starters Joe Ryan and Josh Winder will be making rehab starts this week, so reinforcements are close. On the other hand, Jorge Alcala appears to have had a setback in his rehab and Cody Stashak is officially out for the season, so it's kind of a wash on the good/bad front here.

Let's Play Ball!