Eden Prairie native Cole De Vries will be making his sixth big league start Saturday night, as the Twins try to snap a three-game losing streak in another battle with the surprising Oakland A's at Target Field.
De Vries faced Oakland on May 29, tossing five scoreless innings in a 3-2 victory, but he was overly cautious that night, walking five batters. The Twins have seen him attack the strike zone since then, as he has walked just two batters in his last 20 innings.
He was superb in his last outing, holding the host Rangers to three hits and one walk over seven shutout innings last Sunday. The Twins blew a ninth-inning lead, however, and went on to lose that game.
Oakland counters with lefthander Tommy Milone, who came to the A's in the trade that sent Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals. Like a lot of Oakland's pitchers, Milone has been on a roll, going 2-1 with a 0.96 ERA in his past four starts, racking up 22 strikeouts and just two walks.
The A's are 7-1 in their past eight games and 22-13 since June 2.
The Twins will induct Camilo Pascual into their Hall of Fame in an on-field ceremony before the game. For more on Pascual, click here.
ATHLETICS (44-43)
1. Rickie Weeks, 2B
2. Seth Smith, LF
3. Josh Reddick, CF
4. Yeonis Cespedes, DH
5. Brandon Moss, RF
6. Chris Carter, 1B
7. Brandon Inge, 3B
8. Cliff Pennington, SS
9. Kurt Suzuki, C
