Mariners at Twins
The temperatures are expected to be in the low-to-mid 30s when the Minnesota Twins hold their home opener on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners. But that is just fine with the two starting pitchers - Seattle's James Paxton and Minnesota's Kyle Gibson - both of whom grew up dealing with cold.
Paxton is looking to bounce back from a tough opening start and the British Columbia native feels he will have an advantage over the hitters. "Everyone is playing in the same conditions," Paxton told reporters. "Don't go out there and make excuses. It is what it is and just go get 'em. I'll just try to stay warm between innings." Gibson, who grew up in Indiana, is excited about the occasion and wouldn't care if the temperature was minus-32. "Any chance you get to start a home opener, Minnesota fans won't care if it's 32 degrees or 22 degrees, they want to see a baseball game," Gibson told reporters prior to Wednesday's loss at Pittsburgh. "I'm excited to be headed home and start a good homestand."
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports Northwest (Seattle), FS North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mariners LH James Paxton (0-1, 11.57 ERA) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (1-0, 0.00)
Paxton served up two homers and gave up six runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Cleveland Indians on Saturday. The 29-year-old is looking to build on last season's breakthrough campaign when he went 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 24 starts. Paxton is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in three career starts against the Twins and has struggled against Miguel Sano (3-for-6 with a triple and double).
Gibson tossed six hitless innings in his opening start against the Baltimore Orioles but walked five batters and struck out six and repeatedly worked out of trouble before being removed. "Even when it was 2-0, or 2-1, I had confidence with my fastball in the strike zone instead of getting them to chase it," said Gibson, who was 12-10 with a 5.07 ERA last season. "Hopefully, that's going to be the thing this year, that I can look back on it and say through all the struggles of 2017 that's what I learned and that's when I turned it around." Gibson is 4-2 with a 3.49 ERA in eight career starts against the Mariners and has experienced issues with Robinson Cano (8-for-27, five RBIs).
WALK-OFFS
1. The Mariners went 4-3 against Minnesota last season.
2. Twins 2B Brian Dozier has smacked four solo homers over the past three contests and scored eight runs in five games overall.
3. Seattle C Mike Zunino (oblique) could be activated from the disabled list on Saturday for the second of the three-game series.