Minnesota will wrap up its two-game trip to Detroit with a game on Sunday afternoon. The Twins are sitting in first place in the American League Central, while Detroit is in fourth place. This story was published prior to Saturday night’s game.
Minnesota put together a strong first half of the season, jumping out to a 27-16 record to set a nice pace. The Twins had some issues down the stretch before the All-Star break though, losing seven of their final 10 games. They lost three out of four against the White Sox in their final series last weekend. Minnesota had some extra rest before opening the second half of its season on Saturday night. The Twins are in first place in the AL Central, leading Cleveland by 1.5 games heading into Saturday’s slate. They are also 3.5 games ahead of Chicago in what is shaping up to be a competitive second half.
A moment our 2 All-Stars will never forget ??@Arraez_21 | @OfficialBuck103 pic.twitter.com/m6hY5ChsG1
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 10, 2022
The Twins have been a strong offensive team, ranked sixth in the majors in batting average (.252). First baseman Luis Arraez leads the way with 104 hits and a .338 average. Center fielder Byron Buxton has hit a team-high 23 home runs, while second baseman Jorge Polanco has 14 homers. They will be facing a Detroit pitching staff that is No. 21 with an ERA of 4.12. Right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray is going to start for Minnesota on Sunday. He lost to the White Sox his last time out, allowing six runs on nine hits and a walk across 3.2 innings. Gray has been awful in July, posting a 9.45 ERA and 1.88 WHIP in three starts. He has seen his season ERA go from 2.17 to 3.71 during that stretch.