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A’s prepare for big series with Twins
By Daniel Dullum August 12, 2010 |
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If the Oakland Athletics are to have even a remote shot at the AL Wild Card, they’ll need to win their weekend series at brand-new Target Field in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Twins. Gio Gonzalez is on the hill for Oakland on Friday, facing a rejuvenated Carl Pavano, who has been impressive for Minnesota with a 14-7 record and a 3.28 ERA – he’s also won nine of his last 10 decisions. Gonzalez has been tough himself, coming into the weekend at 10-7, 3.51. Trevor Cahill (12-4, 2.56) starts for Oakland on Saturday against Brian Duensing (5-1, 2.27), and Vin Mazzaro (6-8, 3.86) faces the Twins’ Kevin Slowey (10-5, 4.45) on Sunday. The Twins are coming home after a successful visit to Chicago, where they took two of three and surged into first place in the AL Central. While Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel are back in stride, Minnesota misses the big bat of Justin Morneau, who’s been out since early July with a concussion. Although Jon Rauch began to struggle after a strong start as the closer, recently-acquired Matt Capps has helped the Twins get by without Joe Nathan, who is out for the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The A’s were off Thursday, and currently reside in third place in the AL West race, nine games behind first-place Texas and one-half game behind the second-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. |
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