Brent Rooker is 6-for-9 in the first two games of this weekend's series with the Rays, has homered in each, and on Saturday added an RBI double, too. So it's a good time to sit him down, right?
Rooker's prize for 6-for-9 hot streak? A Sunday off
Twins go all-lefty outfield as they try to win series from Rays
August 15, 2021 at 5:20PM
Actually, there's a good reason for interrupting the rookie's hot streak. The Twins today face Luis Patiño, who has some of the more stark platoon splits in the American League; left-handers batter him with a .315 average and a .951 OPS — basically, the average lefty is Shohei Ohtani against Patiño's pitching — while right-handers hit a mere .191 with a .579 OPS.
And it's not like Rooker is on a month-long tear, either. His hot streak ended an 0-for-19 slump.
Since Rooker has been in the lineup every day since being recalled — 20 straight games in all — and since Cleveland comes to town tomorrow, with more neutral-split pitching, manager Rocco Baldelli decided to give the rookie an afternoon off.
"We took today as a day to get a couple of our left-handed bats in there against Patiño," Baldelli said. "Rook will find his way in there against Cleveland."
In his place, Trevor Larnach, who has had two of the past three days off, is back in the lineup, and with Jake Cave in center and Max Kepler in right, the Twins will have an all-left-handed outfield.
The Twins would like to follow up Saturday's 12-0 rout of the Rays, who still own the American League's best record at 71-46, with another win of any kind, since it would give them three consecutive series victories against first-place teams. Lefthander Charlie Barnes makes his third career start for the Twins.
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