Despite the Atlanta Braves' struggling lineup, which ranks in the bottom half of every offensive category this season, the Minnesota Twins were unexpectedly swept in their series. Chris Paddack showed flashes of what the Twins were expecting out of him. He went 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 1 BB. He didn't factor into the win on Friday as the Twins lost 6-4. Despite his 2 clunker starts, Paddack has bounced back nicely with 10 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 11 K, 3 BB. Despite possessing a four-pitch arsenal, Paddack has primarily relied on his fastball and changeup over these two starts.

His fastball and changeup usage were 81% in these two games against the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves. Paddack has had a good change of speeds with his fastball topping out around 95-96 MPH and his changeup at 84 MPH. These two pitches are his primary put-away pitches. Paddack has lowered his ERA to 7.27. He will look for another start Thursday against the White Sox at Target Field.

Saturday's game was a bullpen game with Justin Topa starting. Topa would go one inning, giving up 3 H and 1 ER in one inning. Simeon Woods Richardson struggled to contain the Braves' offense, surrendering seven hits and three runs over 4.1 innings. The bright spot was that Byron Buxton had three hits and his team-leading fifth stolen base. Twins' bats would go silent after the sixth inning as the Braves' bullpen sent them down in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Twins lose 4-3.

Joe Ryan started Sunday, and the Braves continued where they left off on Saturday, putting together eight hits and 6 runs off Ryan. Those runs were more than enough to beat the Twins 6-2. Byron Buxton stayed hot, going 2-5 with a double and a solo homerun. He finished up the three-game trip vs Atlanta going 5-13 with 5 H, 3 XBH, 2 R, 2 RBIs, and a stolen base. The fresh call-up Luke Keaschall had a hit in every game while also collecting a double in all three games. 

The Twins are now 7-15 on the season and are coming close to falling into last place, where the White Sox are 1.5 games behind the Twins in the American League Central Division. They have already experienced four three-game losing streaks in 22 games. Coming into Sunday's game, the Twins were ranked 27th in BA (.214), 25th in runs (73), and 27th in OPS (.625). and tied for 24th in run differential (-20). The Twins' pitching, all in all, ranks in the middle of the pack for most standard categories. However, they're one save ranks 29th in the league, ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who have yet to record a save on the season. 

The six-game homestand will start on Tuesday with three games against the Chicago White Sox and three against the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins will look to get on a winning streak against the Chicago White Sox, who rank last in every statistical category in baseball.

Tuesday vs Chicago White Sox

MIN Bailey Ober (1-1, 6.16) vs CHI Davis Martin (1-2, 4.84)

Wednesday vs Chicago White Sox

MIN David Festa (0-0, 0.00) vs CHI Undecided

Thursday vs Chicago White Sox

MIN Chris Paddack (0-2, 7.27) vs CHI Shane Smith (0-1, 2.82)

Friday vs Los Angeles Angels

MIN Simeon Woods Richardson (1-2, 4.74) vs LAA Kyle Hendricks (0-2, 4.50)

Saturday vs Los Angeles Angels

Joe Ryan (1-2, 4.00) vs LAA Yusei Kikuchi (0-3, 3.38)

Sunday vs Los Angeles Angels

Bailey Ober (1-1, 6.16) vs LAA Jose Soriano (2-2, 3.16)