Wednesday MLB: Minnesota Twins (82-75) at Detroit Tigers (84-73)
The Minnesota Twins aren’t officially eliminated from the AL Central race if they lost to the first-place Detroit Tigers tonight, but they might as well be.
Detroit, after seeing the Twins get within one game of the lead by taking the day portion of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader, got a huge 6-5 in the nightcap to increase its lead to two games. Thus a win tonight assures the Tigers of no worse than a split in this four-game series and at least a two-game lead heading into the final series of the season – Minnesota hosts K.C. while Detroit hosts the White Sox.
The Tigers have Eddie Bonine and Nate Robertson going in the next two games while the Twins have Carl Pavano and Scott Baker, so the pitching matchups seem to favor the Twins.
And Minnesota is a -115 betting favorite on WagerWeb.com tonight behind Pavano (13-11, 4.86 ERA), who is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA in five starts against Detroit this season. Two of those victories have come since he was acquired by Minnesota from Cleveland on Aug. 7. The veteran right-hander will try to become the first pitcher to defeat Detroit five times in one season since former Twins pitcher Joe Mays in 2001.
“You go into a situation like you have nothing to lose,” Pavano said. “That keeps the pressure off you. You just go out and do what you’ve been doing all year. You can’t change how you approach your game just because these games might seem bigger.”
Twins catcher Joe Mauer started behind the plate in both games of the doubleheader but said afterward that he felt fine and expects to be catching tonight’s contest as well.
So who is Eddie Bonine (0-1, 4.60) and why is he pitching in a pennant race? Bonine, who mixes in a knuckleball, went 6 2/3 innings against the White Sox last time out, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning but losing 2-0. Bonine has spent the majority of this season pitching for Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate in Toledo, but has performed well since being called back up to the majors in September. He started a game against the Twins last year, allowing five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings to get the loss.
The Twins have won 10 of their 16 previous meetings with Detroit this season, but are just 3-4 at Comerica Park and 37-42 overall on the road this year.
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