The Twins will try to bounce back tonight after dropping two of three games against Kansas City this week.

The Twins’ longest winning streak is four games, which suggests they’ll have a hard time making the kind of run it’ll take to win the AL Central. Manager Ron Gardenhire said pitching has been the primary reason this team hasn’t had a longer run, but he wasn’t writing his team off, either.

“I like these guys,” he said. “I like the way they throw the ball. We still have an opportunity to catch people because these guys know how to throw the ball. They’ve done it. Now it’s about going out there and getting on a little run here. First you get back to .500, and then you go from there. Our league has not run away from us and that’s the saving grace.”

Tonight, it’s Scott Baker’s turn. He is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in two starts against Cleveland this season. Orlando Cabrera has a 22-game hitting streak, and Joe Mauer has a 10-game hitting streak.

INDIANS (49-65)

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
3. Shin-Soo Choo, LF
4. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
5. Travis Hafner, DH
6. Luis Valbuena, 2B
7. Kelly Shoppach, C
8. Chris Gimenez, RF
9. Andy Marte, 1B

Starting pitcher: RH Justin Masterson (3-3, 4.22 ERA)

TWINS (55-59)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Joe Crede, 3B
8. Delmon Young, LF
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Starting pitcher: RH Scott Baker (9-7, 4.85 ERA)

Metrodome. First pitch: 7:10 p.m. TV: FSN

This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.