The Minnesota Twins are running out of options when it comes to pitching, but the consummate professional Ervin Santana is back on the mound to right the ship once again. It’s even dollar dog night on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners at 7 p.m. CST, and Fuck Dick and Bert will be at Target Field and better than ever. We’ve got new gear that will allow us to be more mobile with the broadcast and include more fans.
Ervin was his usual, fantastic self in his last start, tossing a complete game shutout against the worst offense in baseball. I wrote a blog about why his complete games are so important, which basically boils down to “the Twins bullpen is really bad.” Things have actually gotten worse since I wrote it, with the Twins’ bullpen ERA ballooning from 5.20 to 5.55. Twins relievers allow the highest batting average in baseball by almost 20 points (as of this writing).
The Twins are basically down to three pitchers who belong in the bigs: Santana, Jose Berrios and Brandon Kintzler. Yet they’ve found a way to score enough runs to remain in first place. It seems once or twice a week the Twins will lose by eight or more runs, but if you win more than you lose, you’re going to be in the hunt, despite a -39 run differential.
Ervin will face the Mariners’ best pitcher of late in rookie Sam Gaviglio. The righty has been huge for Seattle in five starts, pitching to a 2.67 ERA. None of the Twins have seen him at this level.
The Mariners sure like hitting off Ervin, though. Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz are hitting .300 and .429 in 10 and seven at-bats, respectively. Kyle Seager is hitting .231 off Ervin in 13 ABs.
The weather should be warm and sunny, which bodes well for Santana, who seems to have his best control in the heat. We’ll talk about robo-money managers, give you another cocktail recipe perfect for summer, tell you how to turn a dollar hot dog into a deluxe dog at the ballpark, and give you some tips on how to feed yourself and family if you lose SNAP or WIC benefits. We’ll also review the Twins first few picks of the draft, with more in-depth analysis coming in Thursday’s broadcast. Wednesday’s broadcast kicks off at 7 p.m. CST from Target Field. Click the player below to join us live.
