The Minnesota Twins will go into AT&T Park on Wednesday night looking for their ninth consecutive victory as they play the second of a three-game set with the San Francisco Giants.
On Tuesday night, the Twins tied a Major League record by starting off the game with eight consecutive hits, scoring eight runs and chasing Giants' starter Madison Bumgarner after just one-third of an inning. Carl Pavano cruised for most of the evening, and the Twins came away with a 9-2 victory, cutting their deficit in the American League Central to 6.5 games. . .a full ten games less than it was when the month of June started.
Runs are likely not going to be easy to come by for the Twins this evening, however, as the Giants will be sending left-hander Ryan Vogelsong (4-1, 1.92 ERA) to the mound. Vogelsong has not allowed more than two earned runs in a game since back on May 3, a span stretching eight starts. In his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Thursday, he allowed two runs on six hits in six innings of work in a game that the Giants ultimately lost by a score of 3-2.
It might be difficult for the Giants to score again, too, as right-hander Nick Blackburn (6-4, 3.16 ERA) will toe the rubber tonight for Minnesota. Blackburn is looking for his sixth consecutive victory, and has an ERA of 2.29 in his last nine starts. In his last start on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, Blackburn hurled eight outstanding innings, scattering seven hits as the Twins triumphed over the White Sox, 1-0.
First pitch this evening is scheduled for 9:15 PM Central time from AT&T Park. If you're going to be up late, be sure to make yourself at home in Twinkie Town's Game Thread for the best discussion of the in-game action, and we will have the recap up here for you when it's all said and done.