The Minnesota Twins failed to earn an elusive second consecutive win when they lost the middle game of their weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1 on Saturday.

So now the Twins hope to continue their pattern of alternating between wins and losses which has now reached seven games. That will require jump-starting the offense again after Tampa Bay's James Shields kept the Minnesota bats in check. The Twins will face big right-hander Jeff Niemann in the series finale. Nieman has struggled so far this season, losing both of his starts and taking a 4.50 ERA to the mound against the Twins.

Minnesota counters with left-hander Francisco Liriano who will also take the hill in the midst of a poor start to the season. Liriano is 0-2 in his three starts, carting around a hefty 11.91 ERA with more walks (9) than strikeouts (8).

The game is scheduled to start at 1:40 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports North.

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