Jose Berrios had been cruising. He had a 2.43 ERA since the All-Star break heading into his last outing and was coming off a spectacular start against Miami in which he had the Marlins mesmerized for seven innings before was unjustly removed from the game for preservation purposes.
Then came one big fat clunker against the Braves, during which he was rocked for nine runs.
So Berrios is looking for a big-time bounceback today as the Twins look to salvage a split of this big four-game series against the Defenders of the Cuyahoga. In three starts this season, Berrios is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA against the Indians with 22 strikeouts in 18.1 innings.
But was his last outing a sign of a second half swoon? Or will it be something that fuels him the rest of the season?
"He prepares well and his maturity level is very high. I don't think he let's whatever goes on in the recent past affect him in any way," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It's something that as he takes the mound or the field today to get loose, that's not on his mind. He wipes it clean pretty easily and goes out there and tries to execute. Everyone has days that aren't their best but not everybody can recover from it the way he does."
A win also gives the Twins a winning homestand at 6-4.
Michael Pineda threw in the bullpen yesterday and said it went well. He is eligible to come off of the injured list in time for the Twins series in Milwaukee that starts in Tuesday. The Twins have not announced their rotation for the two-game set yet.
"Big Mike is actually doing very well," Baldelli said. "We don't necessarily have a date still but it was a positive day."
