ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- The last time the Twins won a series at Angel Stadium was May 24-26, 2002, when Rick Reed and Eric Milton pitched them to victories in a three-game set.
The Twins have a chance to change that tonight after going 2-1 in the first three games of this series. Kevin Slowey will be making his first start since July 3, and the Twins have been thrilled with how well he's thrown coming back from his wrist injury.
The Angels will counter with righthander Joel Pineiro, who went 15-12 with a 3.41 ERA with the Cardinals last year before signing his two-year, $16 million deal with the Halos. The Twins have a long history with Pineiro that goes back to his time with Seattle, and they also handed him a 6-2 defeat in St. Louis last June 28.
Joe Mauer is 13-for-18 (.722) lifetime off Pineiro, and Justin Morneau is 6-for-14 (.429) with three home runs.
On Wednesday, Manager Ron Gardenhire talked about possibly keeping Jim Thome (3-for-13 off Pineiro) in the lineup, with Jason Kubel (2-for-6) in left field, which would put Delmon Young (1-for-1 with a home run) on the bench tonight. Of course, that's always subject to change.
I'll have updates on that and other tidbits later from the ballpark.
