The Minnesota Twins are coming off their toughest victory of the season.
Less than 24 hours later, they must try to avoid a letdown. The Twins will go for their third consecutive win when they face the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Minnesota has won the first two matchups in the four-game series, including 4-2 on Tuesday against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
Twins manager Derek Shelton praised his players and hitting coach Keith Beauregard for their approach against Skubal. It was a welcome change to the narrative for Shelton, who has spent multiple postgame interviews this season answering questions about his team’s hitting woes.
“I thought we did a nice job. We had two walks in that inning,” Shelton said of the fifth, when Skubal departed after giving up four runs. “We made him work.”
“There was traffic a lot,” Shelton continued. “I really appreciated that. I thought Keith and our hitting group did a really good job with our approach tonight against arguably the best pitcher in baseball.”
The next challenge for Twins hitters won’t be much easier, if at all.
Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez (1-0, 0.75 ERA) will try to steer his team to its first win of the series. Valdez, who signed a free-agent deal with Detroit in February, has a quality start in each of his first two appearances this season.
In his Tigers debut, Valdez limited the San Diego Padres to two runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings on March 27, but he did not figure into the decision of a 5-2 win. He followed that effort by pitching six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals and scattering three hits in a 4-0 win last Friday.
Valdez has faced the Twins eight times, including five starts, in his career. He is 4-1 with a 2.17 ERA in those matchups and has walked 17 and struck out 31 in 37 1/3 innings.
The Twins will counter with right-hander Bailey Ober (0-0, 6.75 ERA), who will make his third start of the season. The 6-foot-9 Ober has pitched four innings in each of his first two starts, allowing three runs on four hits against both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays. The Twins lost to the Orioles 8-6 on March 29 and defeated the Rays 10-4 on Friday.
This will be Ober’s 14th career start against the Tigers. He is 4-3 with a 4.13 ERA in his first 13 appearances and has struck out 76 in 72 innings.
Last season, the Tigers pelted Ober for 10 runs on 15 hits in 11 innings over two games. The Twins lost both.
Spencer Torkelson and his Tigers teammates would love to get back in the win column Wednesday. Rookie Kevin McGonigle has provided a bright spot for Detroit, and he drove in both of his team’s runs Tuesday, but the club still is searching for a complete effort at the plate.
“Losing [stinks],” Torkelson said. “You can tell yourself it’s early, just keep going. But we want to win. This is a results-driven industry, and we understand that.”
The Twins are 3-2 at home this season. The Tigers are 2-6 on the road and are looking for their first win away from home since March 27 at San Diego.
–Field Level Media
