After a day with no baseball, the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics are prepared for a day with plenty of baseball on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Clouds filled with heavy rain wiped out Saturday’s scheduled game between the teams. Instead, they will play a split doubleheader Sunday, with the first game set for 1:10 p.m. local time and the second game at 6:40.
The Twins won the first two games of the four-game series Thursday and Friday. They would sweep with a pair of wins Sunday, but Oakland — which has lost seven straight games — will look to win both contests and earn a series split.
The additional day off should help Twins outfielder Max Kepler, who was left out of Saturday’s original starting lineup. Kepler was hit by a pitch above his elbow on Friday night but stayed in the game to deliver a walk-off single in the 10th inning.
“He’s definitely stiff and sore moving his arm, and that’s to be expected,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Saturday. “It’s more than a little bit. If it was just a little bit, he’d be playing.
“We figured he’d be waking up today not in the best of spots, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything long term that we have to worry about. He’s probably going to need a day or two.”
The first game of the doubleheader will feature Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (5-4, 5.13 ERA) against Athletics left-hander JP Sears (4-5, 4.02).
Ober is 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA in his only career start against the A’s. He pitched five scoreless innings, gave up two hits, walked none and struck out eight on Sept. 26, 2023.
Sears is 0-0 with a 4.26 ERA in his lone start against Minnesota on July 16, 2023. He gave up three runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings.
In the nightcap, Twins right-hander Chris Paddack (5-3, 4.79) will oppose Athletics right-hander Joey Estes (2-2, 4.78).
Paddack has struggled against the Athletics during his career. He is 1-1 with a 7.80 ERA in four games (three starts).
Estes has eight career starts, and one of them came against the Twins on Sept. 27, 2023. He finished with a no-decision and a 5.06 ERA after allowing three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
In his most recent outing, Estes took the 6-1 loss after giving up three runs on eight hits in five innings against the San Diego Padres on Monday. He allowed two home runs, matching the number of homers he gave up in his first five starts of the season.
“No matter what the results were, I learned a lot about myself, about how I threw the ball in general,” Estes said after that start. “These are games when you learn. You put that away and go into the next start and, hopefully, get results.”
Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers are tied for Oakland’s team lead with 13 homers. Abraham Toro tops the team with 69 hits, 21 of which have gone for extra bases.
The Twins’ top slugger is Ryan Jeffers with 12 homers. Willi Castro has a team-high 61 hits to go with eight stolen bases, which also leads the team.
–Field Level Media