Minnesota Twins vs Baltimore Orioles Series Preview
By Jordan Ison
The Minnesota Twins are tied atop the AL Central at 22-18. They will be taking on the red hot Baltimore Orioles starting Monday night.
There’s no questioning that this is a big series for the Minnesota Twins. So far this season, they have defeated who they’re supposed to and struggled against the tougher opponents. They will try to turn the tide against the Baltimore Orioles this week.
The Orioles are 25-17. They sit half a game behind the New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East. Despite being in 2nd, the Orioles have been playing really well, far surpassing their 2017 expectations so far.
They’re not the only team exceeding expectations, though. Coming off a franchise-worst 103 losses a year ago, the Minnesota Twins have looked solid this season. Though the season is young, there is reason to believe the Twins can keep this up.
Earlier this week, I spoke with Nestor Aparicio from WNST, who talks all things Baltimore sports, about the state of the Minnesota Twins this season.
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As I said in the interview, the Twins have been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, surprise in baseball this year. The Orioles could make an argument that they’re the biggest surprise, as well.
As for this series, we’ll see Adam Wilk make his first start in game 1 of the series. He’s pitched in 2 games for the Twins so far this season, recording no wins or losses, but holding a 3.86 ERA in 7 innings pitched.
Game 2 will go to a steady hand in Ervin Santana. As I mentioned in the interview above, he’s clearly our ace pitcher. He will look to build off of that against the Orioles. Each game will make the Twins further consider whether they want to trade him before the deadline or hold onto him for a playoff push.
The youngster Jose Berrios will start game 3 against Baltimore. He has been phenomenal so far in the majors this time around. If the Twins can get that kind of performance out of him again on Wednesday, it’s easy to say he’ll be looking at 3-0 record to start his campaign.
Going against a strong hitting team like the Orioles, Minnesota will have to find a way to get the offense rolling. It all begins with Miguel Sano, who is quickly becoming the face of the franchise. Behind him, expect big performances from Brian Dozier and Jason Castro, who have found success against the Orioles in their respective careers.
Next: Minnesota Twins Power Rankings Update
It’s a very important series, no doubt. The Minnesota Twins look to extend their lead in 1st place of the AL Central with some wins against a quality team. Go Twins!