If the Twins want to remain in contention, they must start playing better in their friendly confines, and they’ll get a chance to turn it around this week against the Chicago White Sox. Minnesota was recently swept by the Indians to drop to 14-24 at home on the season, but the White Sox have struggled on the road this season so it’s hard to know how this series will develop.
The talent level on these teams is pretty even, and it could come down to which starting pitching holds up better.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, June 20 through Thursday, June 22, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
The White Sox will begin the series by sending Derek Holland to the hill. He is 5-6 with a 3.79 ERA on the season and allowed only one earned run in six innings to beat the Orioles last time out. The Twins will send out Ervin Santana, who is 8-4 with a 2.56 ERA. Santana was otherworldly early in the year but is not as dominant as the league’s best hurlers, so his ERA could continue to rise. Even so, he’s a solid pitcher and could twirl a good performance.
In the Wednesday matchup, Chicago is scheduled to start David Holmberg, who is 1-0 on the season with a 2.63 ERA. He is a spot starter who doesn’t have the type of stuff to be effective over long stretches, and could get roughed up by the Twins. Minnesota will have the clear advantage as it sends out Jose Berrios, the young phenom who is 6-1 with a 2.74 ERA and with the dominant stuff and peripheral numbers to match.
In the series finale, the White Sox will lean on ace Jose Quintana, who has struggled to a 3-8 record and a 5.07 ERA on the season but should eventually get that ERA down since he has a lot of talent. The Twins will counter with Hector Santiago, who is 4-6 with a 5.26 ERA on the year. Santiago isn’t as talented and the White Sox should be road favorites in this one.
Player To Watch
Avisail Garcia -- After a couple years of underachieving, Garcia has really taken off this season, emerging as one of the White Sox’s best hitters. He is batting .332 with 10 homers and 48 RBIs on the season, leading the team with a .912 OPS.
Garcia has been a bit lucky on balls in play and his average could come down as the season moves along, but he continues to make hard contact and has become a key cog. The White Sox are in last place in the Central but still only 5.5 games out of first place. They are likely to be sellers at the trading deadline, but if Garcia and the rest of the crew can help Chicago make a surge, it will be interesting to see what the front office does in regards to the future.
Key Stat
Three. That’s the number of home series the Twins have won this season. They swept the Kansas City Royals to start the season which seemed to be a good sign, but the only other series victories came over the Oakland A’s in early May and the Royals again later that month.
The Twins have lost 10 of their past 12 home games. They lost the final game of a series against the Rays, were swept by the Astros, split a four-game set with the Mariners and then got swept by the Indians.
Minnesota’s road dominance helped keep it in first place in the division for much of the season, but Cleveland has now moved ahead and is the more talented club. It’s going to be an uphill battle the rest of the way for the Twins, and staying in the hunt will be impossible without more home field success.
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