It’s do-or-die for the Twins in Game 3 Monday night against the Yankees, and manager Rocco Baldelli wasted no time releasing his lineup for the must-win game.
This is the batting order that will face Yankees right-hander Luis Severino. You can see in parenthesis how each player has done through two games in the best-of-five series. Be warned, it ain’t pretty.
- Max Kepler, CF (0-6, 2 strikeouts)
- Jorge Polanco, SS (2-6, 1 strikeout)
- Nelson Cruz, DH (2-6, 2 strikeouts)
- Eddie Rosario, RF (1-9, 4 strikeouts)
- Mitch Garver, C (2-9, 3 strikeouts)
- Luis Arraez, 2B (3-7, 2 strikeouts)
- Miguel Sano, 3B (1-8, 6 strikeouts)
- Marwin Gonzalez, 1B (2-7, 3 strikeouts)
- Jake Cave, LF (0-2, 1 strikeout)
Baldelli’s lineup features six batters who will face the hard-throwing Severino as lefties. Severino, who made just three starts during the regular season because he was rehabbing an arm injury, has faced 27 left-handed batters this season and allowed four hits, three of them singles.
Righties haven’t fared any better against Severino, totaling two singles in 14 at-bats.
It’s a microscopic sample size, but the numbers aren’t that much more encouraging when looking at his 2018 splits.
- LHB vs. Severino: .252/.311/.380, 6 HR, 34 RBI, 102 K, 321 at-bats
- RHB vs. Severino: .227/.268/.378, 13 HR, 33 RBI, 118 K, 405 at-bats
The Twins will counter Severino with Jake Odorizzi.
First pitch is at 7:40 p.m.
