The Minnesota Twins have had a double-digit losing streak in 12 seasons. If they hope to avoid reach that depth this evening, they have a pretty tall order ahead of them.
The Seattle Mariners, Minnesota's opponent this evening, will be sending one of baseball's best pitchers to the mound in "King" Felix Hernandez, the 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner. While Hernandez's numbers might not be eye-popping, as he's only 4-3 with a 3.36 ERA on the season. . .but, as Hernandez winning the Cy Young Award last year showed, the quality of a pitcher can't always be measured by such things. Last year, King Felix won the award with a record of 13-12.
To counter, the Twins will send left-hander Francisco Liriano (2-5, 7.07 ERA) to the mound. In his last start, following his no-hitter against the White Sox a couple weeks ago, Liriano lasted only three innings before being pulled due to an illness. In those three innings, he allowed four runs in a game the Twins ultimately lost to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 10-2 at Target Field.
The Twins received the news earlier today, as did everybody else, that legendary Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew had lost his battle with esophageal cancer and had passed away. Killebrew was friendly with many of the Minnesota players, and they will no doubt be playing with heavy hearts in this one.
First pitch for this one is scheduled for 9:10 PM Central time. Be sure to check out our friends at Twinkie Town if you'll be staying up late to watch, and we'll have the recap here when it's all said and done.