Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros Series Preview

The Minnesota Twins come into their series with the Houston Astros after narrowly avoiding the sweep at the hands of baseball’s best team, the Oakland Athletics.  Thanks to a gem by Phil Hughes, and former Athletics Josh Willingham and Kurt Suzuki, the Twins took game four by a score of 6-1.

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Minnesota comes into the series having won only four of their last 10.  After a tough series with the Athletics, the Astros will be a welcomed foe.  Houston is no slouch however, having been hot of late and splitting their last 10 ball games.

In game one, the Twins will send Tommy Milone to the hill to oppose Brad Peacock.  Milone will be making his first start for the Twins while Peacock will be looking to improve upon his recent starts.  In his last three, Peacock is 0-3 with an ERA of 16.00.

Game two will pit Yohan Pino for the Twins against Collin McHugh for the Astros.  With Ricky Nolasco having made what will likely be his last start for Single-A Cedar Rapids, he could take over Pino’s spot in the rotation.  McHugh has enjoyed a standout season for the Astros backed by a 3.18 ERA and 115 strikeouts.

In the final game of the series, Minnesota will send Kyle Gibson to the rubber.  For the Astros, Brett Oberholtzer will take the mound.  Gibson took the loss against Jon Lester and the Athletics in his last start, but has looked strong of late.  Oberholtzer has also been pitching well, going 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA and 11 strikeouts in his last three tilts.

One of the few times this season, the Twins look to have the upper hand in the pitching matchups across the series.  Outside of Pino opposing McHugh, the Twins should be able to ride the stronger starter.  Look for Minnesota to take the first and third games of the series, and snag a 2-1 series win over Houston.

Game one gets underway tonight with the first pitch set for 7:10pm central time.  The game can be caught on Fox Sports North.