Twins in July: Middling Starts

Last Friday we looked at the top nine July starts from the Minnesota Twins rotation. Next up we tackle the “middle eight” from the 26 games played last month. The team went 1-7 in these games with only the top start in this group resulting in a victory.

Pelfrey helped the Twins to a 3-2 win against the Indians on July 19th. (Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

Losses piled up whether the team was at home (1-4) or on the road (0-3) in this grouping but those don’t fall entirely at the feet of the pitcher who had the privilege of taking the mound first. Four of the below meet the criteria of a “quality start” and in all eight Minnesota’s starter at least kept the team in the game. Unfortunately the Twins offense could muster only 22 runs of support for their staff and didn’t score more than four in any of the games.

Since it’s already August 15th and my backlog of article ideas continues to grow, I’m presenting these starts in a straightforward list with no commentary.

55: Mike Pelfrey – July 19th vs Indians: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO (113 pitches)

54: Scott Diamond – July 1st vs Yankees: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR (94 pitches)

50: Sam Deduno – July 2nd vs Yankees: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO (102 pitches)

49: Mike Pelfrey – July 11th @ Rays: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR (104 pitches)

47: Kevin Correia – July 31st vs Royals: 6.0 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO (94 pitches)

47: Kevin Correia – July 10th @ Rays: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR (104 pitches)

47: Kyle Gibson – July 9th @ Rays: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO (102 pitches)

47: P.J. Walters – July 3rd vs Yankees: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO (79 pitches)