Twins Host the Nationals Friday in Need of a Strong Series
The Minnesota Twins have not earned a series sweep since May 14th and 15th on the road against the Baltimore Orioles. The Washington Nationals are entering Target Field on Friday night, 20 games under .500. The Twins need to break the cold streak and get their first sweep in over two months. Washington won’t make it easy; on Friday, they will march in with their All-Star pitcher MacKenzie Gore taking the mound.
Gore entered the All-Star break with an ERA of 3.02 and had allowed two or fewer runs in nine of his last 10 starts. He also pitched a minimum of six innings in seven of those starts. He proved to be vulnerable in his first start back, though, allowing eight runs in 2.1 innings against the Padres. A disaster that skyrocketed his ERA up to 3.59. Minnesota will need to protect the plate. Gore is sixth in the league in strikeouts with 140, which could prove troubling for the Twins. Since the All-Star break, Byron Buxton, Willi Castro, and Harrison Bader all have at least eight strikeouts.
Zebby Matthews will make his second start since returning from the injured list on Friday, and will want his second appearance to be smoother than the first. Matthews let up five runs and eight hits in his four-inning return. The thin Colorado air isn’t exactly the ideal place for a pitcher to have their first start back. Coming and playing at home, along with another start under his belt, may give Matthews everything he needs to put together a nice start.
Matthews will have to contend with some potent Nationals bats. James Wood ranks 10th in the big leagues in home runs with 24 and 12th in OPS with .892. Similarly to Gore, he has stumbled since the break. Hitting just .173 over the six-game span. A man not struggling is Josh Bell, hitting .333 with a 1.244 OPS along with two home runs since the break; he’s a threat to any pitcher when he steps up to the plate.
One Twins bat that has been firing on all cylinders since the break is Royce Lewis. Crushing the ball with a 1.533 OPS with six RBIs and three home runs. It’s highlighting a nice return to form for the Twins' third basemen, after having a batting average of .127 and an OPS of .392 on June 1st. Lewis has recovered those numbers to a .237 average and a season-high .687 OPS.
The Twins are in a crowded American League Wild Card race. They cannot afford to let series like this pass them by. After a crushing walk-off loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday, Minnesota needs to bounce back quickly. This may determine whether the Twins' front office decides to make a seller's move at the July 31st trade deadline. Friday’s game starts at 7:10 p.m. CST.
