The Minnesota Twins have had it rough as of late. . .after scoring eight runs in the first inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, the Twins have scored just nine runs in the 53 innings since then, and have dropped five games in a row after running off eight consecutive victories.
When it comes to "having it rough," however, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a completely different league. Earlier today, the team filed for bankruptcy protection, and has been digging through the couch cushions and the ashtrays just to make payroll for a couple of months now, and it has finally come to a head. The assumption is that Major League Baseball will take over the team, and will then attempt to sell it. The proceedings, stemming from the divorce proceedings of Frank and Jamie McCourt, have made a complete mess of the Dodgers, who posted the best record in the National League just two seasons ago and are now possess one of baseball's worst records.
Los Angeles will give the ball to right-hander Chad Billingsley (6-6, 4.48 ERA) to get the series started this evening. Billingsley was decent in his last start, allowing a run on six hits in 5.1 innings in the Dodgers' 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. In his two previous starts, Billingsley allowed 13 earned runs on 22 hits in just 8.2 combined innings in two Dodger losses.
The Twins will counter with right-hander Nick Blackburn (6-5, 3.15 ERA). In his last start, Blackburn lost for the first time since April, as he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings of work in Minnesota's 5-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
First pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time. The in-game discussion duties will be handled by our friends from Twinkie Town in their Game Thread, and we will have the recap up here for you when it's all finished.