Starting for the Minnesota Twins in the opening game of this four-game set is Tyler Duffey (5-6, 5.23 ERA). He gave up four runs over 6.1 innings with two strikeouts and three walks in a no-decision Saturday against the Cleveland Indians. Minnesota still managed to win that game, 5-4. The Twins have now won their last five games with Duffey as their starter. The right-hander has a 3-0 record in his last four starts with a 3.10 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox will counter with Steven Wright (11-5, 2.78 ERA). The knuckleballer is 3-0 in three starts this month despite a monstrous 6.35 ERA. Wright has been tremendous of late, winning eight of his last nine decisions overall. He will fancy his chances of sustaining that terrific form tonight as he has fared extremely well against the Twins of late. He allowed one unearned run in 7.1 innings to beat Minnesota at Target Field on June 10. Wright walked two and struck out six in that 8-1 victory over the Twins. Coincidentally, Duffey was the losing pitcher for Minnesota in that ballgame.
There’s no denying the fact that the Boston Red Sox hold the advantage in the batting department for tonight’s series opener. The Red Sox lead the majors in RBIs (482), hits (928), batting average (.288), runs scored (505) and on-base percentage (.355) this season. Providing the impetus for the Red Sox’ resurgence is the retiring David Ortiz. He leads the Red Sox in homers (23), RBIs (75), batting average (.327) and on-base percentage (.421) this campaign. He is 1-of-3 in his career against Tyler Duffey.
The Minnesota Twins, on the other hand, have struggled mightily on the offensive end this campaign. They are 17th in the entire majors in runs scored (413) and 18th in the RBI (392) department this season. One guy who needs to step up for the Twins tonight is Kurt Suzuki. He is 4-of-6 lifetime against Steven Wright with one RBI.
