Chicago @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 12, 2010 ) Minnesota 6, Chi. White Sox 1
The Minnesota Twins are on the verge of making a big statement. The Chicago White Sox are hoping to cancel that announcement.
The Twins will be looking to bury the White Sox when the teams open up a three-game series on Tuesday at Target Field.
Since gaining sole possesion of first place in the AL Central by taking two of three from Chicago last week, Minnesota pushed its advantage to three full games by sweeping the Oakland Athletics while the White Sox were dropping two of three to the Detroit Tigers. A sweep this week would put the Twins firmly in control of their postseason fate.
Minnesota seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, with Jim Thome providing the kind of thump in the middle of the lineup that the club has missed since losing Justin Morneau to a concussion last month.
Thome, who was signed for just $1.5 million to be a part-time designated hitter this season, has put up 16 homers in 204 at-bats - including three in his last five games.
Thome went deep in the bottom of the seventh on Sunday just after starting pitcher Kevin Slowey completed his day after seven innings. That would usually be enough for any starting pitcher, but Slowey was taken out by manager Ron Gardenhire despite having not yet allowed a hit.
Previous elbow problems prompted Gardenhire’s move, which was supported by all the players involved - a good sign that the club is all on the same page.
The White Sox rarely ever seem to be on the same page with an outspoken personality like Ozzie Guillen managing the team. But chaos seems to work well in Chicago. The team looked like it was in for a lost season in June, but a 25-5 stretch going into the All-Star break brought the White Sox back into contention.
Another such run is certainly possible with the pitching talent that Guillen has on hand, so the Twins would be wise to kick Chicago while it is down.
One of those great pitching talents, John Danks, will get the call for Guillen and the White Sox on Tuesday. The 25-year-old left-hander has allowed one or no runs in four of his last five starts and presided over Chicago’s lone win in last week’s series against Minnesota. He surrendered one run and six hits in eight innings while striking out seven in that contest.
The Twins haven’t always been the greatest matchup for Danks, however. They knocked him around for six runs in six innings back on July 15 - though Danks still earned the win in an 8-7 slugfest. He is just 6-6 with a 4.96 ERA in 17 career starts against the division rivals.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Scott Baker, who earned a win last week against Chicago despite allowing five runs - four earned - in six innings. Baker owns a 6-3 career mark against the White Sox with an ugly 5.79 ERA in 13 starts.