This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The Minnesota Twins will open a crucial six-game homestand on Monday night when they begin a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Minneapolis.
Minnesota (76-67) was on the wrong end of a three-game series sweep over the weekend, getting roughed up by Kansas City. The Twins dropped five games below the first-place Cleveland Guardians and 2 1/2 games below the second-place Royals in the American League Central with 19 games to play in the regular season.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli took no questions from reporters after the team’s 2-0 defeat on Sunday. Minnesota was outscored 11-2 in the series.
“That was an unprofessional series of baseball that we just played, and that’s my only comment,” Baldelli said before ending his postgame press conference.
The Angels (59-84) have been out of playoff contention for a while, but they have a chance to play spoiler against the Twins. Los Angeles is coming off a four-game series against the Texas Rangers in which it lost three games, including Sunday’s, a 7-4 setback.
Angels manager Ron Washington said that he is looking forward to seeing more from his younger players in the final weeks of the season.
“Anytime you’re playing baseball at the major league level, you’re auditioning, and it’s also a learning experience,” Washington said. “All I want them to do is play baseball and understand the game. The things they don’t understand, we’re going to help them understand.
“But there’s certain skill sets that they have, and I expect them to bring that skill set here. … You gain experience by being up here, but you have to bring your skill set. You just can’t come up here and be a blind man.”
Twins right-hander David Festa (2-5, 4.75 ERA) is another young player looking to show his team that he belongs in the big leagues. The 24-year-old Seton Hall product made his major league debut this year and has accumulated 58 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings.
In his most recent outing, Festa allowed two runs on five hits in five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday. He has lost each of his past three starts.
This will be Festa’s first career start against the Angels.
Los Angeles will counter with left-hander Reid Detmers (3-6, 5.87), who is scheduled to make his 14th start of the season.
The 25-year-old southpaw is hoping to post back-to-back quality starts after a strong outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday. Detmers limited the Dodgers to two runs on three hits in six innings, walking two and striking out 10. He came away with a no-decision.
In four career starts against Minnesota, Detmers is 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA. That includes a bumpy performance earlier this season in which he gave up five runs on nine hits in five-plus innings to take a loss against the Twins.
The Twins know that they have to do more at the plate to make a run at the postseason. They have lost 14 of their past 20 games.
“We’ve got to find a way,” Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “It’s not necessarily that we have to hit homers or hit the ball better. … (It’s) just putting together scrappy at-bats, trying to find a way to win a ballgame.”
–Field Level Media
