It goes without saying that Minnesotans are a bit more reserved than Brooklynites, otherwise we’d be referring to the Twins as “Dem Bums,” much as New Yorkers once referred to the Dodgers.
Still, it ain’t easy loving the Twins these days, though a jump start after the All-Star break is within reach.
For Saturday night’s game against Cleveland, the Twins’ fortunes will likely hang on starting pitcher Kevin Correia, who has been the team’s most consistent starter this season, but has been struggling with control issues of late.
As ESPN points out, he has 13 walks over 22 1/3 innings of his last four starts, in which he’s gone 0-2 with a 5.64 ERA. The right-hander, who is 6-6 with a 4.23 ERA for the season, walked the same number of batters in 88 1/3 innings over his first 14 starts, during which he went 6-4 with a 3.87 ERA.
And Fox Sports North reports the Indians (51-45) might not be the ideal opponent against which to find his control, as they average a walk every 10.8 plate appearances, among the best rates in the major leagues.
The Star Tribune’s Phil Miller, meanwhile, says that Correia is third in the AL in double plays, but is heading toward a career high in home runs surrendered with 17 this far this season.
On a brighter note, shortstop Pedro Florimon made several good-to-great plays Friday night, and MLB.com has put together this video of three of them:
And a final note, for those of us who love baseball because you don’t have to grow up, Yahoo Sports breaks the news that closer Glen Perkins notched two outs in pitching his 22nd save of the year before realizing his zipper was down.
Perkins had to cop to it on Twitter:
Nothing like getting two outs in the bottom of the ninth and realizing your fly is down!
— Glen Perkins (@glenperkins) July 20, 2013
