Twins-Pittsburgh series preview
August 3, 2020 at 4:01AM
TWO-GAME SERIES AT TARGET FIELD
Monday, 7:10 p.m.: LHP Derek Holland (0-0, 3.18) vs. LHP Lewis Thorpe (0-0, 0.00)
Tuesday, 1:10 p.m.: RHP Joe Musgrove (0-2, 4.76) vs. TBA
TWO-GAME SERIES AT PNC PARK
Wednesday, 6:05 p.m.: TBA vs. RHP Trevor Williams (0-2, 5.40)
Thursday, 12:35 p.m.: TBA vs. TBA
Pittsburgh update
Pittsburgh lost its fourth in a row Sunday and has been outscored 42-30. … The Pirates entered Sunday batting .178 as a team with a .242 on-base percentage. Both ranked 30th in the majors. … New manager Derek Shelton spent the past two seasons as Twins bench coach, working both under Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli. … Two ex-Twins are on the roster: C John Ryan Murphy and LHP Nik Turley. Also present is RHP Nick Burdi, who spent four seasons in the Twins organization before being selected by Pittsburgh in the 2017 Rule 5 draft. Burdi owns the Pirates' only save of the season … Holland is 3-7 with a 5.56 ERA in 14 career games (13 starts) vs. the Twins and has given up 14 home runs in 68 innings. … Musgrove gave up four runs in five innings in his only career start (2017) against the Twins. Williams has never faced Minnesota.
Twins update
This home-and-home series begins a stretch of seven consecutive games against the teams in last place in the NL and AL Central. … The Twins are 19-13 all-time vs. the Pirates (9-7 in Pittsburgh, 10-6 in Minneapolis) and are 7-3 at PNC Park but just 2-2 at Target Field. … The Twins are 2-0 vs. the NL this year, having swept two games from the Cardinals last week to open this eight-game homestand. Since 2009, they have posted a winning record in interleague play only once, going 13-7 in 2017. …Twins starting pitchers have a combined 2.77 ERA, fourth best in the majors entering Sunday. … DH Nelson Cruz has an AL-high 12 RBI. … The Twins have yet to hit a triple, losing one via replay Sunday, or steal a base, with Byron Buxton caught Saturday and Jorge Polanco caught Sunday.
Phil Miller
about the writer
It happened so fast for Zebby Matthews in 2024 that he pitched in the majors before he attended a major league training camp — and he only recently figured out how well he did.
