The Minnesota Twins are eager to adapt to a more familiar environment as they return home to begin a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening.
The Twins are feeling good after a nine-game road trip against the Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners. They went 6-3 on the trip and won each series 2-1.
It’s the kind of consistent success that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli enjoys.
“I think we're improving as a group,” Baldelli said. “I still think we're getting better this year. I think you can see it in the way the at-bats come out, what the at-bats actually look like.”
Meanwhile, Detroit is looking for consecutive wins for the first time since June 2-4.
The Tigers won 7-6 over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Detroit, which had lost 16 of its previous 22 games.
“You can't complain about a win, especially when things have gone the way they have,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “We'll get out of here with a win, get on a plane, fly happy, have a great day. We obviously needed a win no matter how it turned out.”
The Tigers will turn to left-hander Tarik Skubal (9-3, 2.32 ERA) to continue their success. Skubal is coming off an All-Star campaign with 112 strikeouts in 97 innings.
In his most recent appearance, Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, one of the best teams in the majors. He gave up three hits, walked one, and had seven strikeouts.
“He's a phenomenal player,” Hinch said after the performance. “He threw 100, but he did an even better job of mixing up his other pitches. He did a little bit of everything tonight.”
Skubal has faced Minnesota 10 times in his career. His record is 3-3 and his ERA is 3.53, including one start this season in which he pitched five scoreless innings and earned the win on April 12.
The Twins will face right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.41), who is set to start his 14th game this season and 15th of his career. Woods Richardson is looking for consecutive wins after holding Arizona to three runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings in an 8-3 victory on Wednesday.
Woods Richardson is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and eight strikeouts in 11 innings in two career starts against Detroit.
Carlos Correa leads the Twins with a .311 batting average and a .822 on-base plus slugging percentage. He has nine home runs and 40 RBIs in 65 games.
Detroit's most impressive hitter has been Riley Greene, who is batting .253 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs in 83 games. His OPS is .831, which is significantly higher than any other player on the team.
The Tigers have a 4-3 record against the Twins this season and have outscored them 32-29.
Minnesota has a 23-16 home record this season. The Tigers have a 19-24 record on the road.
–Field Level Media
