Game 80: Twins at Braves

First Pitch: 6:20 PM Central Time
TV: Bally Sports North, MLB Network (out-of-market)
Radio: TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: Battery Power

What a difference a week makes.

Well, kind of. But that’s how gross things felt a week ago, when I recapped the Twins’ 9-3 loss to the Red Sox. The Twins lost the next night, 10-4, bringing the ledger to five losses in their last six games with a -22 run differential over the half-dozen contests.

Since then, however, the Twins have won four out of five. No, it hasn’t exactly been pretty, save for a 6-0 win in the finale of the Red Sox series. But the pitching is back to being competitive and the offense has taken advantage of miscues by opposing defenses, which has papered over some of their own continuing shortcomings.

Now, the Twins head south to take on the National League-leading Atlanta Braves.

Rocco Baldelli’s club has their work cut out for them as Spencer Strider will take the mound for the opener. Strider has been one of the better pitchers in baseball for the past year or so, finishing in second in Rookie of the Year voting last year and pitching to the tune of an 8-2 record with a 3.93 ERA and a league-leading 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings thus far this season — more than two-and-a-half strikeouts-per-nine more than Shohei Ohtani.

The Twins will send Sonny Gray out to oppose Strider. Gray has struggled a bit recently but has still been competitive, throwing five innings of three-run ball against Boston last time out.

Enjoy Monday evening baseball!