Can the Twins win today and earn their first winning road trip of the season?
The Minnesota Twins closed out a 6-game road trip Wednesday afternoon. Pat Dean started for the Twins while Sean Manaea started for the Oakland Athletics. Pat Dean has been pitching very well since getting the opportunity to start. He was pretty good in his relief but allowed more hits in those appearances. He’s also been striking out more batters than expected as he’s not been a high strikeout pitcher since he was in the rookie leagues in 2010 and that’s mostly because he was a 21-year-old getting his feet wet as a professional pitcher in the short season leagues.
LHP Sean Manaea is a former 1st round pick of the Kansas City Royals. He helped them win the World Series by being the main piece in the Ben Zobrist trade. He was called up to the major leagues on April 29th when RHP Chris Bassitt went down with a strained right elbow. He took that spot in the starting rotation and has kept it. His first few starts were kind of rough but he’s righted the ship somewhat, going past the 6th inning in each of his last three starts. He’s been a strikeout pitcher in the minors but hasn’t developed into that kind of pitcher yet with the big club.
Minnesota Twins 1, Oakland Athletics 5
W-Manaea (2-3)L-Dean (1-2)
2B-Dozier (8)
Pat Dean wasn’t the same pitcher he’s been in his last two appearances but some plays maybe should’ve been made to help him get out of a couple jams. Sean Manaea’s final line of 6IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB and 8 strikeouts looks better than it was because the Twins can’t get a big hit to save their lives. They were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position (RISP) for the game and are now 83-for-380 for the season or a sparkling .218. They had the bases loaded with no outs in the 6th and all they got was their one run on a sacrifice fly.
Should we be frustrated about that? Well, it’s hard not to but, at least the Twins are putting themselves in those situations. Now, they just need to figure out how to actually start getting hits with runners on so they can capitalize in those spots. They are trying to do too much and wind up with nothing from those key at-bats.
Oakland is hot right now and the Twins did nothing to put out that fire. It’s somewhat crazy to see former Twin, 3B Danny Valencia, hitting the ball like he is right now. He’s locked in at the plate and it isn’t just against the Twins. They are just the latest victim. He’s now hitting .346/.380/.579 with 5 doubles 1 triple, 8 HRs and 21 RBIs with 8 walks and 24 strikeouts.
Up Next
The Twins have 10 straight games at home starting with 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays starting on Thursday night with:
Phil Hughes (1-7) vs Matt Moore (2-3) – Thursday at 7:10pm
Ricky Nolasco (2-3) vs Jake Odorizzi (2-3) – Friday, June 3rd at 7:10pm
Ervin Santana (1-4) vs Matt Andriese (3-0) – Saturday at 3:10pm
Tyler Duffey (2-4) vs Drew Smyly (2-7) – Sunday at 1:10pm
