First Pitch: 1:10 pm CDT

TV: Bally Sports North / ~ / Radio: TIBN

A well-fought series in Baltimore led to a decisive home sweep of the Kansas City Royals — all of which made a winnable series-opening loss all the more deflating. But, the series is young, and while Cole Irvin seems to be Minnesota’s mystery sauce, the Twins will be able to counter with All-Star representative Sonny Gray and his trusty sidekick Joe Ryan for the rest of the weekend.

Gray will make a start that is all but certain to render him ineligible for a requisite fourth inning of work at the All-Star Game in Seattle on Tuesday; instead, he’ll be facing a much more important regular-season Orioles lineup. He does so on the cusp of 100 strikeouts, and with an offense behind him who would sure be happy to help him earn his fifth win of the year, as despite his pitching promise, he’s been deGrommed through most of 2023 so far.

Tyler Wells starts for Baltimore — he, a 15th-round pick by the Twins in their 2016 draft and later Oriole Rule 5 pick, has faced the Twins four times with two starts in his most recent matchups. The Orioles have lost three straight Tyler Wells starts; he’s running a 3.18 ERA but a 6.17 FIP in that stretch.

Meanwhile, the Twins filter their lefties back into the lineup by way of Edouard Julien and Joey Gallo, although Alex Kirilloff is absent from the starting lineup once again. This batting order will try to sneak those line drives just a couple inches over the head of Cedric Mullins in today’s afternoon affair, which is notably back on Bally after a date with Apple last night.

GO TWINS GO!