HOUSTON -- The Twins' seven-day road trip (which somehow feels like double that) ends this afternoon with a fairly interesting pitching matchup between young players trying to establish themselves as consistent winners. Brett Oberholtzer, now 25, was a real find for Houston last season, putting up a 2.76 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) as a midseason callup.
This year started much rougher for the lefthander; he was 0-6 one week into May and lost his job. But the lefty has bounced back well, and the Astros have won his last five starts, all of them quality starts, including back-to-back wins over Oakland. He has a 2.91 ERA in those games, and has allowed more than three earned runs just once in his last nine outings.
On the other side is 26-year-old Kyle Gibson, whose up-and-down fortunes are well known to Twins fans. His control problems were fatal in last Friday's loss in Oakland, turning into five earned runs, but he's had eight starts where he didn't allow a run. He's making his first start ever in Minute Maid Park, while Olberholtzer is making his first start ever against the Twins.
Here are the lineups for today's getaway game:
TWINS
Santana CF
Dozier 2B
Mauer 1B
