The last time the Minnesota Twins had a successful weekend against a winning team, they stumbled against the Oakland Athletics.
After taking two of three from the American League West-leading Texas Rangers, the Twins will hope to avoid more losses to the Athletics on Monday afternoon when the teams begin a three-game series at Target Field in Minneapolis.
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The Athletics look to forget an ugly home set against the Pirates over the weekend as they head into Minnesota to battle the A’s on the Fourth of July in a battle of two teams sitting in the basement of their respective divisions. Oakland has not had a very good year and will likely part ways with some of their coveted assets after the all-star break as their cyclical overhaul is on the horizon and with guys like Danny Valencia and Sean Doolittle likely to find new homes this could be a very long season for Billy Beane’s boys. Oakland will send Kendall Graveman to the mound who will look to improve his record to 4-6 and lower his ERA down from 4.84 as he will battle Ricky Nolasco who is 3-6 with a 5.31 mark and will look to keep the Twins rolling at home.
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The Twins head into this game coming off a very nice series against the AL leading Texas Rangers and they will look to keep the bats hot against the Athletics who by comparison are a much weaker team than Texas. Minnesota always had some solid pop at the plate but they could never string it together but with Brian Dozier, Eduardo Nunez, and Miguel Sano all heating up the Twins are starting to play much better and while it is still a lost cause for any success this season they are certainly in the running to get back in the playoff picture as early as next year.
PITCHING MATCHUP:
Athletics RH Kendall Graveman (3-6, 4.84 ERA) vs. Twins RH Ricky Nolasco (3-6, 5.31)
Graveman matched the total from his three previous starts by allowing four runs in a no-decision against San Francisco on Tuesday. The 25-year-old sinkerballer looks to get back on track versus Minnesota, against which he permitted two runs and six hits in as many innings of a 3-2 triumph on May 30. Graveman, who has yielded two runs or fewer in six of his last eight starts, has struggled on the road this season - with a bloated 6.39 ERA accompanying a .343 batting average against.Nolasco suffered his second straight loss and fell to 1-3 in his last six outings after getting shredded for seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings of Wednesday's 9-6 road setback against the Chicago White Sox. The 33-year-old was taken deep three times in that loss after surrendering four homers over his previous eight outings. Nolasco has kept the ball in the park in all three career meetings with Oakland, posting a 2-0 record with one shutout.
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