Angels welcome surprising Twins, in case you have been holding your breath and waiting for the Minnesota Twins to come back down to earth, you can breathe easy now – they aren't going anywhere. The young Twins have been competitive all season long and will be until the last day of the season. Currently the oddsmakers at BetOnline have the Twins +138 heading into this MLB matchup.
Thursday's matchup against the Los Angeles Angels will be a good barometer to test how good they really are.
Scott Baker will start for the Twins and he's been the definition of reliable until the month of August hit. Dating back to last year, Baker had allowed more than three earned runs in a start only three times in his last 26 outings.
But in August, he's already done it twice. So far this month he's allowed 12 earned runs in 17.1 innings pitched (6.11 ERA). 10 of those earned runs (in 10.1 innings pitched) have come in two starts against the Seattle Mariners, who seem to have his number.
Baker has pitched better at home than on the road. His home ERA is 3.23, which is much crisper than his 4.46 road average. Opposing hitters are batting .268 against him away from home.
He'll face Angels ace John Lackey, who is 10-2 with a 3.22 ERA this season.
Lacker has struggled a bit since the start of July allowing 32 earned runs in 51.2 innings pitched (5.65 ERA). In those eight starts, he has allowed less than three earned runs only once.
But the Angels have still won six of his last eight starts and are providing him with great run support. The Angels have averaged 8.9 runs per game in his last eight outings.
Thursday will be the first of a four-game weekend series between the two teams and the Angels have won three of the first four meetings between the two teams this season.
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