I feel like we've heard this before. Scott Baker had a, um, poor outing in an early season start. I would feel like a broken record if I were to break it down again, but Baker is...not hot right now.
Baker is, for all intensive purposes, the antithesis of what the Twins have set up their lineup and outfield for. What I mean is that Baker is predominantly a fly ball pitcher. If you are unaware, while Cuddyer has a strong arm and Delmon Young appears fast, both have among the league's worst UZRs. (You'll excuse me for dismissing Young's 1.0 UZR so far in '10 as small sample size.)
Long story short, Baker has kept his HR/9 numbers down around 1.1 in 4 starts, which is fine...but the rate at which he allows fly balls (38% in 2010) is alarming to anybody who willingly allows Young and Cuddyer to be in the same outfield together. Or in last night's case, Young and Jason Kubel.
But hark, Baker is doing nothing we didn't expect him to.
Anywho, the Twins are about to embark on their rubber match against the Tigers. It's Detroit's Dontrelle Willis (who struggles with control) against Carl Pavano (who has 17 Ks and 1 BB so far in '10). The Twins are shorthanded, what with Mauer, Morneau, and Hardy all taking the day off for various reasons, but suffice to say Willis is prone to some problems, and if the Twins are patient at the plate, there's no reason to count Minnesota out of this one. Luke Hughes and Drew Butera round out the lineup at 8 and 9 respectively, but we're not far removed from the days when the Twins would win games with both Punto and Tolbert...so...I'll leave that here.
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