Josh Bell is coming off his best game with the Minnesota Twins.
That could be bad news for opposing pitchers.
“We know how strong he is and (his) ability to impact the baseball,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said of Bell, an 11-year veteran who is in his first season with the Twins. “The one thing about Josh Bell is when he gets hot, he can get really hot quickly.”
Bell will try to build on his two-homer, four-RBI performance when the Twins face the Houston Astros on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Minnesota held on for a 6-3 win in Monday’s series opener thanks in large part to Bell, who finished 3-for-4 and is batting .223 this season, with five homers and 28 RBIs.
A two-hour rain delay Monday forced both managers to ask for more from their bullpens than they initially had planned. That could play a role in Tuesday’s game, as well, as both the Twins and Astros could benefit from their starting pitchers going deep into the game.
Shelton said the Twins’ resiliency in the series opener was a good sign heading into the rest of the series. Minnesota has won six of its past nine games.
“We did a nice job,” Shelton said. “Anytime you have a delay that’s that long, it’s a little challenging. It kind of put a wrench in our pitching plans for the night. But overall I was really proud of the group. Because when you have a delay (and) you come back out and you do a good job scoring runs, I was proud of how they responded.”
The Astros have lost back-to-back games and seven of their past 10 contests. They will try to find a way to win on Tuesday despite injuries to multiple key players, including Jose Altuve, who spent his first game on the injured list Monday because of an oblique strain.
One piece of good news for Houston is that Jeremy Pena is back in the lineup. He went 0-for-3 on Monday but notched an RBI on a sacrifice fly and will look to get more comfortable at the plate Tuesday.
“I feel like the recovery process went pretty smoothly,” Pena said. “We did everything we had to do to get the body strong again. The rehab games, the body felt good. It’s good to be back.”
Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3, 6.86 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday. McCullers is coming off a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners after allowing two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings on Wednesday. Houston won 4-3 in 10 innings.
In four career starts against the Twins, McCullers is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Zebby Matthews (1-0, 0.00), who will make his second start of the season. He scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings and struck out five in his season debut Thursday in a 9-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
Matthews has yet to face the Astros in his career.
Pena said he and his Houston teammates remain confident despite their struggles this season.
“We have a great team,” Pena said. “Everybody is still with their head up, chest out, and we’re going to keep showing up.”
–Field Level Media
