The series win over the Rays eased the worries of the Oriole faithful. Things that once seemed so bleak are bright again. Tonight, the Orioles welcome the Minnesota Twins to town, they sit in the cellar of the AL Central. It is a team that has struggled this year but did take two of three from the O's back in May.
Pitchers
RHP Miguel Gonzalez, Baltimore
2014 stats: 21 G, 6-7, 3.75 ERA, 120.0 IP, 125 H, 21 HR. 41 BB, 83 SO, .268 BAA, 1.38 WHIP
Last start (@ ChC): 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 2 ER, L
Career vs. Minnesota: 1 G, 4.2 IP, 5.79 ERA, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 7 SO
Sometimes he leaves you wondering how he keeps his head above water. Gonzo is still walking more batters than he ever has before with a whopping 3.08 per nine innings. But perhaps even more troubling is his tendency to allow the long ball. He is tied with Wei-Yin Chen for the most home runs allowed on the team, but the righty has thrown 28.1 fewer innings than the southpaw.
So, kind of a "good news bad news" situation. The Twins are in the bottom third of baseball in home runs hit, but they are second in the game in walks earned behind Oakland. Surprisingly, they are sixth in runs scored, tending to cash in on those walks.
The one time he has faced Minnesota did not go so well. It took place earlier this season; May 4 in Minneapolis. Maybe it was the weather? It was a brisk 51 degrees outside. Maybe Miggy just isn't all that great.
RHP Trevor May
2014 starts: 4 G, 0-3, 8.79 ERA, 14.1 IP, 24 H, 0 HR, 13 BB, 7 SO, .387 BAA, 2.58 WHIP
Last start (vs. Detroit): 5.1 IP, 11 H, 4 SO, 0 BB, 5 ER, L
Career against Baltimore: Never faced
Once upon a time. May was the number one prospect of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2011 season. Since then, he has been traded with Vance Worley in exchange for Ben Revere. Entering this year, he was ranked eighth in the Twins system and has been impressive for Triple-A Rochester, posting a 2.84 ERA in 18 appearances with an 8-6 record.
You can expect four pitches from May. His repertoire contains a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. The fastball makes up 60 percent of his pitches and averages 91.5 mph. The slider is just 10 percent of his pitches and comes in at about 81 mph. The curveball is a slow one at just 76 mph and makes up about 15 percent of his pitches and the changeup is about 83 mph, making up 16 percent of his offerings.
The rookie has struggled in the bigs but his previous minor league rankings and impressive performance at Triple-A mean this could prove to be one of those maddening games to watch as an Oriole fan.
Lineups
Minnesota Twins (w/ career stats against Gonzalez)
CF Danny Santana (S) | none |
2B Brian Dozier (R) | 1-for-2, 1 BB, 1 SO |
DH Joe Mauer (L) | 0-for-1 |
1B Kennys Vargas (S) | none |
RF Oswaldo Arcia (L) | none |
3B Trevor Plouffe (R) | 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 SO |
SS Eduardo Escobar (S) | 1-for-2, 1 SO |
C Eric Fryer (R) | none |
LF Jordan Schafer (L) | none |
On the bench: Kurt Suzuki (2-for-3 with a double against Gonzalez), Eduardo Nunez (1-for-2), Chris Parmalee (never faced)
Baltimore Orioles
RF Nick Markakis (L) |
1B Steve Pearce (R) |
CF Adam Jones (R) |
DH Nelson Cruz (R) |
LF Delmon Young (R) |
SS J.J. Hardy (R) |
3B Chris Davis (L) |
C Caleb Joseph (R) |
2B Jonathan Schoop (R) |
No one on the O's roster has ever dealt with May and he has struggled with his does of Major League baseball in 2014. That said, he is just as likely as somebody like Tsuyoshi Wada to shut down this Oriole offense. Haha, am I right?...oh..