Colorado @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 16, 2010 ) Colorado 1, Minnesota 2
The scrappy Minnesota Twins continue to find ways to win in their new home. Lately, they’ve been getting it done with timely hitting from some unlikely contributors.
Minnesota, however, will need its big bats to wake from their slumber in order to beat Ubaldo Jimenez, who is off to one of the best starts in the history of baseball.
The hard-throwing Jimenez takes the hill seeking his seventh straight win Thursday when the Colorado Rockies try to avoid being swept by the Twins.
The Twins improved to 5-3 on a nine-game homestand and 23-12 overall in their first season at Target Field with a 2-1 win Wednesday. Scott Baker struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings and rookie Danny Valencia recorded his first career RBI.
The Twins are on the verge of a sweep despite getting little production out of star hitters Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. The two have combined to go just 2-for-16 in the first two games of the series.
Instead, it has been unheralded players like Valencia, Delmon Young and Nick Punto leading the way for Minnesota. The trio is 11-for-19 with three runs and five RBIs in the past two games, helping the Twins outscore the Rockies 11-4 in that span.
Minnesota certainly needs Mauer and Morneau to starting hitting if it is going to beat to beat Jimenez (12-1, 1.16).
The slim right-hander has been literally unhittable this season. He tossed the franchise’s first no-hitter on April 17, and entered Friday’s start against Toronto with the lowest ERA (0.93) through 12 starts since 1914.
Not even bad weather could slow him Friday, as Jimenez tossed six gutsy innings in the rain despite not having full control of his pitches. He allowed a season-high three runs and five hits in six innings of the rain-shortened 5-3 win.
Now, he is looking to become the majors’ first 13-game winner. And the Rockies hope he can help them avoid a season-high tying third straight loss. Colorado was held to just three hits and struck out 13 times Wednesday.
They may swing and miss even more against Francisco Liriano (6-3, 2.90), who fanned a franchise-record seven straight hitters during his last start. The 26-year-old left-hander allowed one run and five hits in eight innings with 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over Atlanta on Friday.
Liriano is returning to the form he flashed before having Tommy John surgery. Much like Jimenez, Liriano was a once-heralded phenom who burst onto the scene in 2006, going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 121 innings. But the 26-year-old missed all of 2007 after surgery and then went 11-17 with a 5.27 ERA in 43 games over the next two seasons.
Liriano has never faced the Rockies, who have been held to four runs or fewer in 12 of their last 16 games.