Seattle @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 28, 2013 ) Minnesota 4, Seattle 6
Despite a series win over the defending world champions, the Minnesota Twins probably won’t enter Friday’s home series opener against the Seattle Mariners with much confidence. The Twins recorded two walk-off victories against the Boston Red Sox, but their bullpen gave up nine runs (six earned) over 12 innings during the three-game set. Although reliever Michael Tonkin incurred most of the Boston’s wrath, closer Glen Perkins was also tagged for a pair of runs in Thursday’s 10-inning win.
Minnesota’s relief corps might catch a break against a Seattle team that totaled one run over its last two games while dropping two of three at home to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners have seen their offense sputter at times since their five-game winning streak from May 3-7, sandwiching five games in which they scored one run or less around a three-game stretch in which they tallied 22 runs. Although Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat against Tampa Bay marked its first losing streak of any kind since an eight-game slide in mid-April, Seattle has still won 13 of its past 20 games.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Seattle), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners RH Chris Young (3-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (3-3, 4.74)
Sidelined for all of last season while recovering from surgery to correct his thoracic outlet syndrome, Young’s feel-good start to the 2014 campaign continued in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. The 34-year-old Princeton alum, who has won each of his last three turns while compiling a 1.83 ERA, allowed one run on three hits over eight frames during a 93-pitch outing. However, Young has yet to record a victory in four all-time starts against Minnesota despite a 2.41 ERA.
Gibson endured the worst outing of his 17-start major-league career in Saturday’s 9-3 setback against the Detroit Tigers, exiting after a career-low two innings after getting pounded for six runs and seven hits. The No. 22 overall pick of the 2009 draft also yielded his first homer of the season, becoming the last full-time starter in the majors to do so. Gibson was also roughed up in his only other turn versus the Mariners last season, giving up five runs over five innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Seattle (20-20) is .500 or better through 40 games for the first time since 2003.
2. The Twins notched their 4,223rd win since the franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961 on Thursday, matching the total they posted as the Washington Senators (1901-60).
3. Mariners 2B Robinson Cano is batting .337 with 14 RBIs during his 23-game on-base streak.
PREDICTION: Mariners 3, Twins 2