The Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays will close out their four-game series Thursday with a matinee affair in St. Petersburg, Fla., that will feature two top pitchers trending in opposite directions.
Tampa Bay (69-70) earned a season-series win, four games to two, by crafting its best inning of 2024 with eight runs during a scoreless game in the home half of the fourth on Wednesday.
The fourth-place American League East club sent 11 batters to the plate and notched five hits to take full control and go up 8-0.
Taylor Walls knocked in two runs while Ben Rortvedt, Jose Caballero and Jonny DeLuca plated one each. Yandy Diaz capped the scoring with a two-run, 423-foot homer to dead center.
“It’s contagious,” said Walls, who had a season-high three RBIs. “Seeing guys put together good at-bats and square balls up. It almost gives you this almost subconscious sense that you’re going to do it soon.”
The Twins (75-64) will look for a split of the series when manager Rocco Baldelli sends out Pablo Lopez (13-8, 4.05 ERA) for his 28th start in a season that has seen him set a career-high mark for victories.
The right-hander has heated up in the summer, recording five wins in his past seven starts dating back to a 9-3 win at the Detroit Tigers on July 26.
In that span, the Venezuelan hurler sported a 5-1 record and a 2.01 ERA. He did not allow a run to cross home plate in his past three starts — a stretch of 20 2/3 innings.
In his previous start, a 2-0 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on “Pablo Day” for the fans in the Twin Cities, Lopez induced 13 groundouts with only three whiffs in 7 2/3 innings.
“We knew going into the game, there are some guys that refuse to strike out a lot,” Lopez said. “But if you make good, quality pitches, you might have an opportunity to finish the at-bat quickly.”
Added Baldelli: “Those type of outs can quicken the pace of the game up.”
The 28-year-old staff ace has had a tough time with the Rays over his seven-year career. He is 1-3 with a 4.05 ERA in seven starts. The Rays have hit .235 with eight home runs against him.
If Thursday’s matchup would have taken place a month ago, it would have fallen under the category of “marquee,” but the struggles of Rays right-hander Taj Bradley prevent that.
The AL’s Pitcher of the Month for July, Bradley (6-9, 4.35) was on a torrid pace then.
At his high point, the Los Angeles native was 6-4 with a 2.43 ERA after beating the Toronto Blue Jays 13-0 with six innings of two-hit, scoreless work on July 25.
In all, the 23-year-old pitcher was 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA and a .160 batting average against in five July starts.
However, Bradley’s progress skidded to a halt as the calendar turned to August.
He faltered mightily in five starts and went 0-4 with a 10.41 ERA as batters churned out a .366 average.
In two career starts against the Twins, Bradley holds no record and a 5.06 ERA.
On June 19 in Minnesota, he yielded two runs on seven hits in six innings as the host Twins won 3-2.
–Field Level Media