Mill1634

The Twins look to finish off their season, and series, sweep of the Pirates this afternoon at 12:35. Kenta Maeda takes the bump for the Twins after two very strong outings to start his Twins career. None of the games in this series have been real exciting, and it almost appears as if the Twins know they are the better team and can sleep walk through 8 innings, whether it is the first 8 or the last 8, and turn it on when needed. The Pitchers: RHP Kenta Maeda (2-0, 1.64 ERA, 11 IP, 12 K's) vs RHP JT Brubaker (0-0, 0.00, 5 IP, 7 K's) Maeda has thrown 2 gems against 2 lineups that are much better than the Pirates, and I expect that trend to continue today. As we have seen throughout this series, the Pirates lineup doesn't have much to offer anywhere in the order, other than Josh Bell, who really only has half of one year of success. We've seen a lot of Maeda's success come against right handed hitters, and as we will see later, the Pirates don't have many. As for the Bucco's pitcher, JT Brubaker, is making a spot start filling in for Mitch Keller who was injured his last time out. Brubaker has only thrown in relief thus far, so I would be surprised if he goes more than 4 innings. This is a good thing for the Twins, as the Pirates bullpen is not good. The Lineups Twins RF Max Kepler L SS J. Polanco S DH Nelson Cruz R LF E. Rosario L 1B Miguel Sano R 2B M. Gonzalez S 3B E. Adrianza S C Alex Avila L CF Byron Buxton R Pirates 2B Adam Frazier L 3B P. Evans R DH Josh Bell S 1B Colin Moran L LF B. Reynolds S RF G. Polanco L SS JT Riddle L C J. Murphy R CF Jarrod Dyson L The biggest lineup note is that Josh Donaldson has still not played since he exited against Cleveland with a hamstring issue, which is something that he has struggled with in the past. I was pretty confident that we would see him this roadtrip, and it is still pretty early, but not seeing him in one of these two games isn't a great sign. Arraez was removed from the lineup this morning, although Rocco claims it was decided last night. Sano and Buxton both return to the starting lineup, and Avila is behind the dish with a day game following a night game. The Pirates loaded themselves up with a left handed hitting lineup, as Maeda has an OPS against in the 500 against righties, but is in the mid .700s against lefties. This Day in History - 2002: Robb Nen becomes the 16th major leaguer to record his 300th career save when he closes the Giants' 11-10 victory over the Cubs at Pacific Bell Park. The 32 year-old reliever, who will not pitch again after this season due to multiple surgeries for a torn rotator cuff, is the youngest closer to reach the milestone. Pick to Click - Every hitter in the lineup records a hit Go Twins!!!

Good win! Hitters weren't great but added on when they needed to, and Dobnak was fantastic. Stashak continues to excel, and Duffey is dominant. Until tomorrow, Go Twins!

Surprised we are going to Alcala after throwing 35 Monday...thought Poppen would be the guy here

MIGHTY MAX!!!! Ballgame

Couldn't keep Arraez hitless forever!

PLEASE don't take Randy out

Garver gottem

8 in a row sat down by Trevor Williams....

Nothing hard hit tonight

That is a fair ball, and not even that close

Wasnt the most exciting game but I am never going to complain about a win. Berrios seemed to struggle early, but settled down nicely after the 7th. The velocity staying at 95-96 into the 6th is an encouraging sign. Cruz is still really good, and Rosario had a few nice (and not nice) at bats. Arraez hit the ball hard but Is getting unlucky. Buxton defense still outweighs his lack of hitting. Nice job by thielbar to save a majority of the bullpen.

Twins win!! The bats finally got something going, and we were patient at the plate. Berrios had a rough 2nd inning, but was good other than that. Thielbar did his job, other than in the 9th, which I'm not sure was entirely his fault. Until tomorrow, Go Twins!!!

Can't imagine Thielbar was real stretched out to throwing 50 pitches

I'm thinking Thielbar to the travel squad...already have one spot open with not bringing up anyone for Hill.

Kepler 0-0 with 4 walks and a SAC fly. Love baseball

Question of the day: Is this 2 separate series with the Pirates, or one four game series? I'm going with the second option

Safe

Nice to see from Thielbar. A true feel good story.

Buxton can fly

The fine for flying a drone in a no fly zone is 32,000. Hope it was worth it

Guessing that ends Berrios day, but maybe now. Only a few games left with expanded rosters, gotta think they'll want Thielbar to go 2

This jackass should be forced to stand in the box against Alcala with no helmet

WTF. Game stopped for a drone?

Eddie with 2 of the weakest RBI singles I have ever seen