Los Angeles @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2010 ) LA Angels 2, Minnesota 7
There’s not much room for Kevin Slowey to improve on his last performance when the Minnesota Twins right-hander takes the mound on Saturday afternoon to face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Slowey was pulled after seven no-hit innings against the Oakland Athletics in his last start. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire removed Slowey because he didn’t want to further risk taxing his throwing elbow after a 106-pitch outing.
Slowey had missed his previous start due to elbow tendinitis and Gardenhire made the tough and highly unpopular call to remove Slowey from the game.
The boo-birds voiced their displeasure and Gardenhire admitted afterward that he would have booed himself, too. The no-hitter was lost in the eighth inning when reliever Jon Rauch allowed a double.
Gardenhire’s point was the Twins can’t afford Slowey to suffer a setback, particularly with the 26-year-old sporting an 11-5 record. Over his last four starts, Slowey is 3-0 and has allowed just five runs and 12 hits in 28 2/3 innings.
If nothing else, being pulled from a no-hitter makes Saturday a highly anticipated start for Slowey, who has a 4.22 ERA and 98 strikeouts on the season. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pitching against an Angels’ squad that is just 6-18 on the road over the past two months.
Slowey is 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA in five career starts against the Angels. He defeated them in Anaheim in April by holding the Angels to one run and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
A trio of Angels has hit Slowey well. Howie Kendrick is batting .500 in 10 at-bats, Bobby Abreu is hitting .385 in 13 at-bats and Alberto Callaspo has a .357 average in 14 at-bats.
Los Angeles will counter with 23-year-old right-hander Trevor Bell, who makes his fourth start of the season. He is 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in his three starts.
Bell (1-3) last started on Aug. 8 when he gave up six runs - four earned - and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers.
Bell’s season ERA is 5.40 and he has allowed 54 hits in 38 1/3 innings.
Veteran slugger Jim Thome, who is certainly not known for his speed, belted his second triple of the season in Friday’s series opening loss. Thome has 26 career triples, but his last one before this season was back in 2004 when he played for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Third baseman Danny Valencia went 2-for-4 and is now 12-for-26 (.462) during the first seven games of Minnesota’s nine-game homestand. Valencia is batting .438 at Target Field and .258 on the road.
The Angels’ Kendrick had three hits Friday and is 5-for-8 over the last two games.