It's another first place team up next. Of course it is.
Let's not get too cocky. The Twins do have their two best starters lined up and ready to go. The Jays took two of three from the Twins just two weeks back, but they were fortunate enough to miss both Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan on that occasion. No such luck this time. And they'll be opposed by Yusei Kikuchi - who I suppose has received a field promotion to Fourth Starter - and Saturday's mystery man. The only good thing about all this is the general inoffensiveness of the Minnesota lineup.
The Story So Far:
Fri 26 May: Toronto 3 Minnesota 1 - Kevin Gausman was uncharacteristically wild, walking five batters. He held the Twins to a single run, but the resulting high pitch count meant the bullpen to get the final 11 outs. Which they (Swanson, Mayza, Pearson, Romano) did, without allowing a single hit (although they managed to walk another four hitters.) The Jays scored all three runs in the third inning, in a quick little sequence that went Kiermaier HR, Springer double, Bichette HR.
Sat 27 May: Toronto 7 Minnesota 9 - The Twins bounced back, taking advantage of one of Chris Bassitt's occasional stinkers. Bichette's first inning homer staked Bassitt to an early lead, but he gave that back and more as the Twins scored three times in their half, a two out single by Wallner cashing two runs being the key blow. Julien's second double of the day stretched the lead to 4-1 an inning later, but the Jays battled back to tie it up, thanks to a two run triple by Bichette scoring Heineman and Springer in the third, and a solo homer by Biggio an inning later. But in the fifth, a leadoff single by Kiriloff and back-to-back homers by Castro and Wallner sent Bassitt to the ahowers. The Twins later added a couple more homers, by Castro (off Cimber) and Julien (off Garcia) to stretch the lead to 9-4, which provided a mountain too high for the Jays ninth inning rally (Varsho two run homer, Bichette RBI single to score Biggio) to overcome.
Sun 28 May: Toronto 3 Minnesota 0 - The Jays took the rubber match, in a game that rather resembled Friday's opener. Just like Gausman, Jose Berrios was very effective, but rather wild, walking five in just 5.2 IP. He didn't allow any runs at all, and Richards, Swanson, and Romano got the final ten outs, allowing just one ninth inning single along the way. You don't need a lot of offense when the pitchers are tossing a shutout - Alejandro Kirk's two out single to score Chapman and Varsho - from first base - in the second was all that was required. Varsho, filling in for Kiermaier in centre field, also racked up a BaseRunner Kill and took away a homer from Carlos Correa.
Matchups
Fri 9 June - Gray (4-1, 2.15) vs Kikuchi (6-2, 4.40)
Sat 10 June - Ryan (7-3, 2.76) vs Francis? (---, -.--)
Sun 11 June - Varland (3-2, 4.40) vs Gausman (5-3, 2.63)
It is, however, a first place team with a losing record. That's not a phenomenon we see all that often. The Twins, however, live in the AL Central where such things are possible. They're scuffling at the moment - they just went into Tampa Bay and were swept, which extended their current losing streak to five. And their two best hitters, Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo, are both on the IL.
Should be a fun weekend, right?
Let's not get too cocky. The Twins do have their two best starters lined up and ready to go. The Jays took two of three from the Twins just two weeks back, but they were fortunate enough to miss both Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan on that occasion. No such luck this time. And they'll be opposed by Yusei Kikuchi - who I suppose has received a field promotion to Fourth Starter - and Saturday's mystery man. The only good thing about all this is the general inoffensiveness of the Minnesota lineup.
The Story So Far:
Fri 26 May: Toronto 3 Minnesota 1 - Kevin Gausman was uncharacteristically wild, walking five batters. He held the Twins to a single run, but the resulting high pitch count meant the bullpen to get the final 11 outs. Which they (Swanson, Mayza, Pearson, Romano) did, without allowing a single hit (although they managed to walk another four hitters.) The Jays scored all three runs in the third inning, in a quick little sequence that went Kiermaier HR, Springer double, Bichette HR.
Sat 27 May: Toronto 7 Minnesota 9 - The Twins bounced back, taking advantage of one of Chris Bassitt's occasional stinkers. Bichette's first inning homer staked Bassitt to an early lead, but he gave that back and more as the Twins scored three times in their half, a two out single by Wallner cashing two runs being the key blow. Julien's second double of the day stretched the lead to 4-1 an inning later, but the Jays battled back to tie it up, thanks to a two run triple by Bichette scoring Heineman and Springer in the third, and a solo homer by Biggio an inning later. But in the fifth, a leadoff single by Kiriloff and back-to-back homers by Castro and Wallner sent Bassitt to the ahowers. The Twins later added a couple more homers, by Castro (off Cimber) and Julien (off Garcia) to stretch the lead to 9-4, which provided a mountain too high for the Jays ninth inning rally (Varsho two run homer, Bichette RBI single to score Biggio) to overcome.
Sun 28 May: Toronto 3 Minnesota 0 - The Jays took the rubber match, in a game that rather resembled Friday's opener. Just like Gausman, Jose Berrios was very effective, but rather wild, walking five in just 5.2 IP. He didn't allow any runs at all, and Richards, Swanson, and Romano got the final ten outs, allowing just one ninth inning single along the way. You don't need a lot of offense when the pitchers are tossing a shutout - Alejandro Kirk's two out single to score Chapman and Varsho - from first base - in the second was all that was required. Varsho, filling in for Kiermaier in centre field, also racked up a BaseRunner Kill and took away a homer from Carlos Correa.
Matchups
Fri 9 June - Gray (4-1, 2.15) vs Kikuchi (6-2, 4.40)
Sat 10 June - Ryan (7-3, 2.76) vs Francis? (---, -.--)
Sun 11 June - Varland (3-2, 4.40) vs Gausman (5-3, 2.63)
and
Heineman won't keep hitting but even when we're healthy I'd still probably keep him up as the last bench guy, never really playing but letting Kirk and Danny be used freely as DH or PH as needed.
Though with Jansen/Biggio/Espinal being an excellent bench that can cover every position well and who can all hit, its easy in the short term when we're down an SP to just stick with a 3 man bench and call up as many pitchers as possible, and cycle them through as needed. And maybe that might even be the best thing to do longterm, too.