Today at 2:10 p.m. the Minnesota Twins (49-62) and Chicago White Sox (43-69) will do battle in a war of American League Central cellar dwellers. The first game of this divisional four-game set can be live streamed here; Twins fans can listen to the action on 96.3 K-Twin, while White Sox fans can do the same on WSCR 670. The matinee will be the first game of a day-night double-header.
Today's game could be a slugfest, despite both teams' penchant for low-scoring offensive output in 2013. The White Sox rank dead last in the American League in terms of runs per game (3.67), but will get their cracks against rookie Kyle Gibson (2-3, 6.69 ERA).
Gibson is struggling through a tough first season, surrendering four runs or more in four of his seven starts this year. In Game 2, the Twins will hand the ball to another unproven youngster, Liam Hendriks (0-1, 4.66 ERA). When asked about throwing Hendriks out there Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony was candid:
"He's been up here before. And we don't have a lot of options to be honest."
The White Sox turn to John Danks (2-9, 4.52 ERA) in the day game, whose putrid win-loss record personifies Chicago's lost season. In the nightcap Chicago turns to Charlie Leesman (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in his major league debut. White Sox manager Robin Ventura seemed excited about Leesman's debut saying, "We get good reports on Charlie, and let's see what we got."
The Twins expect to welcome outfielder Josh Willingham back to the lineup in the night game, but their excitement will be tempered since catcher Ryan Doumit is taking his spot on the disabled list with a concussion. With Doumit out, catcher Chris Herrman will likely start one of the two games to avoid franchise player Joe Mauer wearing down his knees.
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