Minnesota: Phil Hughes starts Friday’s opener. Hughes is coming off his best outing of the year, going 7 innings and only surrendering 2 runs. Like Pelfrey, Hughes is used to not getting any run support. His last two starts have resulted in zero run support, and Minnesota averages only 2.8 RS/IP for their starters all year.
After starting to once again flail at pitches our of the strike zone, totaling 38 strikeout in the final two games against the Nationals, the Twins made contact a priority against the Cleveland Indians. They struck out just 18 times in the 3 game series, and stand now fourth-worst in the league with 201 strikeouts this year. Fellow surprise team of 2015, the Houston Astros, lead the league with 224.
Notes: Trevor Plouffe flew to Ft. Myers to begin a two game rehab assignment. Barring any setbacks to his intercostal muscles, Plouffe is scheduled to rejoin the Twins next week on the road at Houston. Twins are beginning to hit better with runners in scoring position. After a ghastly .076 to start off 2016, the Twins have batted above .300 (.309) in the past 13 games.
Next: Velocity Woes in the Bullpen?
Strange, but true stat of the week: The Minnesota Twins had back-to-back walk-off wins against the Cleveland Indians on Monday and Tuesday. Oswaldo Arcia and Miguel Sano had the honors. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Twins won back-to-back games with walk-off hits was in 2005, when Jacque Jones did it twice in games against the Orioles July 19-20.