The Minnesota Twins will go for their first win at home when they square off against the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is coming off a 4-2 loss against the Guardians in its home opener Thursday. The Twins went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
It’s no surprise that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wants to see better results from his hitters Saturday in the second tilt of a three-game series.
“We obviously didn’t get the job done when we had good opportunities,” Baldelli said. “With runners in scoring position, the punchouts do hurt you. At least giving yourself a shot, putting the ball in play, that’s probably the better scenario for us. We just have to do a better job (and) have better at-bats, flat out.”
Cleveland has shined at the plate to start the season. The Guardians have won six of their first eight games, and they boast a whopping 50-20 run differential to start the year.
Nearly everyone has contributed. Steven Kwan is hitting .385 (15-for-39) with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs, and Jose Ramirez leads the team with seven RBIs in the first eight contests.
It has been a banner beginning for Guardians first-year manager Stephen Vogt.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way our hitters are attacking,” Vogt said. “We’re going to need to run the bases hard, to be aggressive. We’re not going to get (a grand slam) every night. So we need to take advantage of the extra 90 feet.”
Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (0-0, 1.69 ERA) is set to make his second start of the season and his first at Target Field. Ryan allowed one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings in his season debut against the Kansas City Royals.
The 27-year-old Ryan has started against Cleveland eight times in his career. He is 3-3 with a 2.05 ERA in those games.
The Guardians will counter with right-hander Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 5.40), who also is set to make his second start of the season. Carrasco gave up three runs on six hits in five innings in his season debut against the Oakland Athletics.
It was an emotional outing for the 37-year-old Carrasco, who is back where he started his career with Cleveland. He spent the past three seasons with the New York Mets, where he had one good season sandwiched between two seasons filled with struggles.
Carrasco, who also battled leukemia in 2019, said he savored his return to the Guardians.
“To be honest with you, I was a little bit nervous out there,” he said after his first outing. “I know I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I was nervous to get back there with my team.”
Carrasco said he took a deep breath and regrouped after a two-run first inning.
“After that, I felt fine,” he said. “I kind of settled myself a little bit.”
In 27 games (22 starts) against Minnesota, Carrasco is 7-11 with a 4.12 ERA. Saturday’s game will mark his first appearance against the Twins since 2020.
–Field Level Media