Going into this weekend's series against the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins had defeated Chicago in 24 of their last 30 meetings. However, going into the finale of their three-game set at Target Field on Sunday afternoon, the Twins will look to avoid a fate that has not befallen them since July 1, 2004. . .being swept by the White Sox in Minneapolis.
The post-season is, likely, already a lost cause for the Twins, who dropped ten games behind the Detroit Tigers with Saturday night's sloppy 6-1 loss. With just 49 games remaining in the season, the Twins will have to play at an over .600 clip the rest of the way just to finish at .500 or better.
In order to try to stop this most recent slide, the Twins will send left-hander Brian Duensing (8-9, 4.50 ERA) to the mound. Duensing has only faced the White Sox once this season, and came away with a no-decision. On July 9, he allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings of work, but the Twins ended up losing the game by a final score of 4-3. Duensing has been up-and-down over his four starts since then, posting a 2-2 record. In his last start against the Los Angeles Angels Rangers, he allowed five runs on eight hits in six innings in a 5-1 Minnesota loss back on Tuesday.
The White Sox will counter with right-hander Jake Peavy (4-5, 5.13 ERA). Peavy has not been credited with a victory since June 25, having gone 0-4 with two no-decisions in his six starts since that time. In his one start against Minnesota this season, he was not impressive, lasting just 4.1 innings and allowing five runs on ten hits as the Twins won 6-3 back on July 10. Peavy was solid in his last start this past Monday against the New York Yankees, allowing three runs on eight hits in seven innings of work, but still took the loss as the White Sox fell to the Bronx Bombers 3-2.
First pitch for this one is scheduled for 1:10 PM Central time at Target Field. Twinkie Town will have the Game Thread up for you to discuss the in-game action, and we will have the recap here for you when everything gets finished.