Today is David Ortiz’s final game in Minnesota, which is one of the top storylines today. He’s hit .443 in his career at Target Field, and .269 in the Metrodome, where he played 19 games for the Red Sox and 233 for the Twins.
But Big Papi isn’t the only story today. For one thing, it’s an interesting contrast in the pitching matchup today. The Twins’ hopes for avoiding a sweep rest with rookie lefthander Pat Dean, who has never faced the Red Sox. Boston is countering with Rick Porcello, who is making his 26th start against Minnesota, and 11th in Target Field.
Porcello is 8-9 all-time against the Twins, but has lost his last three starts against them with an ERA of 5.79. Dean, who memorably outpitched Felix Hernadez two weeks ago in Seattle, hasn’t pitched well since then; he’s 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. Dean has a little extra motivation today, though — he was excited that his wife Katie, a third-grade teacher in New Jersey, had flown in for the weekend to watch.
After the game, the Twins will fly across the country for an odd three-night stay in Anaheim. They’ll fly right back after Wednesday night’s game, and aren’t due to arrive until after sunrise Thursday morning. Since Kyle Gibson will pitch that night’s game, he’s simply staying behind while the team goes west; he’ll pitch a bullpen session Monday, then watch on TV.
It’s a crazy schedule that would seem to put extra wear on a team that could use a break, but Paul Molitor said he always welcomes even the biggest travel hurdles. “I always thought of it as part of the challenge,” Molitor said of this week’s brief trip.
Their first challenge, however, is breaking their latest three-game losing streak, the ninth of three games or longer they’ve had this year. Here are the lineups for today’s homestand finale:
RED SOX
Betts RF
Pedroia 2B
Bogaerts SS
Ortiz DH
Ramirez 1B
Bradley CF
Young LF
Rutledge 3B
Vazquez C
Porcello RHP
TWINS
Nunez 3B
Grossman LF
Mauer 1B
Plouffe DH
Dozier 2B
Kepler RF
Escobar SS
Centeno C
Buxton CF
Dean LHP
La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts. Mark Rosen borrows him occasionally for WCCO-TV.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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