Series Preview (BAL 7/7-7/9): Twins Look to Take Orioles Rematch

Last week we posed the question as to whether or not the Twins would still have a season worth watching after their three-game series in Baltimore. This week the Twins still lead their division by two games, and are looking to expand upon that as they head into the All-Star Break and trade deadline parts of the season. Here's how this weekend's series sets up.

Image courtesy of Tommy Gilligan, USA Today

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The Twins took two of three against the Orioles last week in Baltimore, and only surrendered three runs total in the process. Had the offense shown up at all in the finale, the Twins could easily be looking to take their third series sweep in a row.

For the Twins, Max Kepler comes into the series red hot, going 6-for-12 with three runs scored and five RBI in his last four games. Edouard Julien's power is returning, and he went 2-for-4 with two solo homeruns in the Kansas City series. The "platoon" method continues to restrict Julien's at-bats, and with a lefty starting Friday night's game Julien will have to probably wait for his opportunities.

Jose Miranda might be running out of opportunities. His questionable defense at third, mixed with going 0-7 since his return to the lineup with no walks, makes Miranda tough to put in the lineup night in and night out. Can he find his swing again against this Orioles staff?

Here is a refresher of the familiar faces that abound on the Orioles roster (Thanks to Seth Stohs @sethtweets for his Twins Almanac skills):

RP Yennier Cano, SP Kyle Gibson, SP Tyler Wells, RP Danny Coulombe, and CF Aaron Hicks. Hicks in particular has regained some of his dynamic form since being released from the beard-care rules of the Yankees organization, although cooling down of late during this recent Orioles rough patch. Gibson leads a rotation in the way that the Twins always hoped he would, although he's struggled of late as well. Cano and Coulombe would look nice in our bullpen right now. And I didn't even remember Wells, but now I'm sad about how that all went down (see Game 2 below).

Not to mention Minnesota area connections with Terrin Vavra (Currently on the IL, but son of coach Joe Vavra and a former Gopher has played 2B, 3B, LF and RF this year), RP Mike Baumann (From Mahtomedi), and backup catcher Anthony Bemboom (from Sauk Rapids). Bemboom, along with former Twins prospect Chris Vallimont (who was called up after the Twins series, pitched in one game), was DFAd a couple of days ago.

The Orioles are led offensively by their outfielders, Austin Hays, Hicks, Anthony Santander, and Cedric Mullins, who are all posting an OPS over .800 with the O's this year. Catcher Adley Rutschman is living up the hype of a first pick, and as the Twins witnessed a week ago, the Orioles have their own lights-out closer in Felix Bautista (3-1, 1.13 ERA) who is averaging two strike outs per inning!

The Orioles have lost six of their last eight games, however, and come into Target Field having just survived a four-game series at Yankee Stadium that didn't conclude until late Thursday evening. Hays still is suffering from the hip injury that he suffered after colliding with Donovan Solano at first base last week. Rookie prospect Colton Cowser got the call-up to be in left field, and should see action against the Twins this weekend.

Weather Factor: Gorgeous. Beautiful. No excuse to not pack the stadium type of weather. low to mid-80's with sunny skies and a light breeze that only blows out when the Twins are batting. Seriously, you can't dream up better weather for baseball.

Pitching Probables
Game 1 – Friday, July 7th, 2023 – 7:10 pm CDT – Twins RHP Bailey Ober (5-4, 2.70 ERA) looks to make another dominant start against the Orioles in the series opener, after allowing only two hits and zero runs in seven innings against them last week. The Orioles counter with LHP Cole Irvin (1-3, 6.32 ERA) who also had success against the Twins in his start last week, allowing only one run over five innings in the game that the Orioles eventually won.

Game 2 – Saturday, July 8th, 2023 – 1:10 pm CDT - RHP Sonny Gray (4-2, 2.50 ERA) will try to go deeper into the game than he did last Sunday versus the Orioles, when he was able to complete six innings of shutout work only to have Jhoan Duran and the bullpen run out of gas to lose the game. The Orioles send RHP Tyler Wells (6-4, 3.19 ERA) to the mound. Wells was taken in the 15th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Twins, only to be developed and lost in the Rule 5 draft before the 2021 season, where he made his debut with the Orioles. Wells got a no-decision in his last start against the Yankees.

Game 3 - Sunday, July 9th, 2023 – 1:10 pm CDT - The series finale pits Twins RHP Joe Ryan (8-5, 3.43 ERA) and his 276 career innings pitched against Orioles RHP Kyle Gibson (8-6, 4.73) and his 1,606 career innings pitched. We all know that Gibson served in the Twins system and rotation for many seasons, and he appears to have re-gained some success with Baltimore after bouncing between the Rangers and Phillies in the past few seasons. The pitch clock and Gibson were never meant to co-exist, so it will be interesting to watch this version of his approach up close.

Prediction Time!
The wheels are back on the Twins bandwagon! Right? How do you think the Twins will handle the pitching matchups in this series? Can the Twins sweep their way into the break, or could they realistically get swept back into second place in the AL Central? Leave your thoughts in the comments.