Twins at Rays
Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon said he expected the return of B.J. Upton from the disabled list to have a major impact on his club, citing his defense, speed and power. "Makes everything better," Maddon said. It took only two games for Upton to prove his manager prophetic, providing the clutch hit that broke a scoreless deadlock in the Rays' 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. Upton's two-run single also happened to come after the Twins issued an intentional walk to get to him.
Although Minnesota was shut down by Rays ace James Shields on Saturday, Josh Willingham managed to etch his name into the team's record book. Willingham extended his season-opening batting streak to 15 games. That tied the mark of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, who opened the 1994 season with a 15-game hitting streak. Runs could be a little easier to come by in Sunday's rubber game when Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann matches up with struggling Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano.
TV: 1:40 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), Sun Sports (Florida)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins LH Francisco Liriano (0-2, 11.91 ERA) vs. Rays RH Jeff Niemann (0-2, 4.50 ERA)
Numbers don’t always tell the story, but in Liriano’s case they say it all. There are multiple reasons why his ERA is in the stratosphere. Liriano has more walks (nine) than strikeouts (eight), allows an average of two hits per inning, has a brutal .407 batting average against and a WHIP of 2.74. He faced the Rays twice last season and was battered for 12 runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Niemann is hoping his past success against Minnesota will help him break into the win column. He is 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in five career starts against the Twins, holding them to a .214 batting average. He has lasted only five innings in each of his first two starts this season. Both starts have come on the road, but Niemann was 22-10 away from Tropicana entering this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Minnesota’s Joe Mauer had his second two-hit game of the series to raise his career batting average to .446 (33-for-74) at Tropicana.
2. Tampa Bay has not dropped a series at home to the Twins since 2006.
3. Niemann has lost his first two starts in three of the past four years.