The Minnesota Twins left the great state of Minnesota a little more than two months ago to head for Spring Training in Fort Myers, Florida. Today, after their time in the Sunshine State and their first six games of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, they are finally coming back home.
The Twins will start their first homestand of the 2011 season with a three-game set against the Oakland Athletics starting Friday at Target Field. They will hope for better fortune than they had in their first couple of series of the year, having gotten off to a 2-4 start, losing two out of three to both the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.
Starting the home opener for the Twins will be right-hander Carl Pavano. Pavano was scheduled to start Wednesday night's contest at Yankee Stadium, but that game was postponed by rain. There has still been no make-up date announced for that game. Pavano had a forgettable debut to his 2011 season in Toronto, where he failed to make it through the fifth inning against the Blue Jays, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on six hits as a part of Minnesota's 13-3 Opening Day loss at Rogers Centre.
Pavano will be opposed on the mound by Athletics' left-hander Brett Anderson, who got off to a much better start to the year than Pavano did. In Anderson's first start, he allowed one run and six hits over six innings, and did not figure in the decision as the A's lost 5-2 at home to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.
First pitch for this one is scheduled for 3:05 PM Central time.