Minnesota Twins probable pitchers & starting lineup vs. Boston Red Sox, May 3

As the calendar turns over to May, the bosses are going to get harder as the Minnesota Twins try to keep leveling up after a sluggish start to the season.

Minnesota is riding a ten game winning streak into May, but those wins have come against some bad teams. The Twins swept the White Sox twice while also sweeping the Angels in between -- not exactly the 1927 Yankees.

Still, the winning streak has pulled the Twins out of the depths of a dark spiral to start the season. Injuries and poor play were putting a bleak spin on things, but a ten game winning streak goes a long way in giving a team some confidence. The games are going to get harder, though, as Minnesota is welcoming the Boston Red Sox to town for a series that's going to tell us a lot about how real this recent streak has been.

Twins vs. White Sox probable starting pitchers, May 3

Minnesota will be sending The Sherrif out to the mound on Friday, as Chris Paddack (2-1, 5.88 ERA) will try to keep the good times rolling for the Twins.

Paddack has been slowly starting to settle into his role in the rotation, but he's still a little all over the map. His last start only lasted five innings and saw him allow four runs on eight hits against the Angels -- a very bad team. HIs start before that was a gem, with Paddack going seven innings and striking out 10 White Sox hitters while allowing zero runs.

That's been the Jekyll and Hyde act for Paddack so far this season, but he's going to get a true test on Friday against a very good Boston Red Sox offense.

It's going to be tough sledding for Twins hitters, though, as we're about to learn a lot about just how much the offense has snapped out of its April funk Minnesota has scored 66 runs during its winning streak after posting just 67 total.

That's what playing against bad pitching does, but Tanner Houck (3-2, 1.60 ERA) doesn't fall into that category. Houck is arguably the first good pitcher the Twins will be facing since its series against Baltimore a few weeks ago, and things didn't go so well then.

Houck has been phenomenal, striking out 41 batters so far this season but allowing runs in just three of his five starts. He got tattooed pretty bad by a horrible Angels team, giving up 12 hits and seven runs on April 12th, but he's completely bounced back from that and has allowed just three runs over his last 21.2 innings -- including a complete game shutout win over the Guardians.

That's what the Twins are up against, and they're truly going to have to earn their 11th straight win.

Minnesota Twins starting lineup, May 3

Here's tonight's lineup against the Red Sox, which notably excludes Byron Buxton. We've yet to hear word on what the situation is with his knee injury, but perhaps no news is good news.

1. Alex Kirilloff, LF
2. Edouard Julien, 2B
3. Ryan Jeffers, C
4. Max Kepler, RF
5. Carlos Correa, SS
6. Trevor Larnach, DH
7. Carlos Santana, 1B
8. Willi Castro, CF
9. Jose Mirana, 3B

Boston Red Sox starting lineup, May 3

Note: The Red Sox lineup will be updated here once it's announced.

What time is the Minnesota Twins game today?

• Game time: 7:10 pm CT
• Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
• Location: Minneapolis, MN
• Stadium: Target Field

How to watch Minnesota Twins game tonight?

A question that's already way too difficult to answer got even harder this past week. Bally Sports North was dropped by Comcast, blacking out the Twins for a vast majority of the fanbase across the viewing area.

Fans outside of Minnesota have an easier time watching the Twins than the ones who live closest to the team. That's the state of affairs thanks to some truly bad decisions made by ownership this offseason, and now fans are the ones paying the price.

Bally Sports North is still on select cable providers, like DirecTV, and can thankfully be streamed on a few different services locally.

• Bally Sports website and Bally Sports App
• MLB.tv (subscription required)
• fuboTV (which has a free trial)

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