Tigers at Twins
The Minnesota Twins have gotten the better of the Detroit Tigers dating back to last season and they seek a sweep of the abbreviated two-game series between the teams Sunday in Minneapolis. After Friday's series opener was postponed due to snow, the Twins used a four-run rally in the third inning and wore out the Tigers with seven walks overall in a 4-3 win Saturday afternoon.
"I believe we went up there looking for good pitches to hit and when we had the opportunity to maybe take a few pitches and kind of draw that inning out ... and we didn't expand the zone," manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters. Minnesota has won seven of the last eight meetings with Detroit and it is 8-3 against the Tigers at home since the start of last year. Detroit is 1-3 since winning five in a row and it went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position Saturday, when it outhit the Twins 10-5. The Tigers hope to get a few more of those runners in Sunday against Minnesota right-hander Jose Berrios, who opposes veteran Jordan Zimmermann for Detroit.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Jordan Zimmermann (0-1, 2.50 ERA) vs. Twins RH Jose Berrios (1-1, 2.18)
After giving up one run across 13 2/3 innings over his first two starts, Zimmermann was reached for five runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 frames in the loss to Cleveland on Tuesday. The 32-year-old gave up five runs over 3 2/3 innings in his last matchup with the Twins on Sept. 17, 2018 and he has a 6.36 ERA in nine career encounters. Nelson Cruz is 4-for-4 with a home run and a double in his career against Zimmermann.
Berrios has three straight quality starts out of the gate but took a tough loss after allowing two runs in six innings at Philadelphia his last time out. He owns 21 strikeouts against four walks across 20 2/3 innings while holding opponents to a .155 average. The 24-year-old from Puerto Rico owns a 7.06 ERA in his career against the Tigers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins SS Jorge Polanco is 16-for-40 over his last 10 games.
2. Tigers LF Christin Stewart has three of his team's six home runs.
3. Minnesota LF Eddie Rosario has nine RBIs over his last eight games.