As has been the case more times than we would like to discuss this season, the Minnesota Twins enter Wednesday night's game in Detroit needing a victory to avoid being swept out of another series.
The Twins have dropped the first two games of their three game set at Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers, each by one run. They lost Monday afternoon's game by a score of 6-5 on a controversial call by one of the umpires, and they lost on Tuesday by a score of 8-7 as the bullpen, once again, could not hold a lead.
Tonight, the Twins will try to avoid the sweep by sending right-hander Scott Baker (2-3, 3.65 ERA) to the hill. We all remember what happened in Baker's last start, as he pitched seven brilliant, shutout innings against the Angels, only to see the bullpen implode once again in a 6-5 Minnesota loss. Hopefully he can pitch a similar game this evening and snap the Twins' latest slide.
Detroit will send right-hander Rick Porcello (4-3, 3.93 ERA) to the mound in this one. Porcello's last start was not a very good one, as the Boston Red Sox got to him for six earned runs in just three innings pitched in a 6-3 Tigers' loss back on Friday.
You can follow all of the in-game action by jumping into the Game Thread over at Twinkie Town, and we will have a recap of things for you once the action has finished in Detroit.