That was not the best road trip for the Minnesota Twins. It started alright, winning two of three in Houston. But then a sweep by the Yankees and two straight wins by the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates had the team reeling a bit. They recovered Sunday, scoring seven runs in the 10th inning to salvage a game.
Now they head home for games against another couple of struggling clubs, Colorado, Oakland and Tampa Bay, all three below .500 currrently.
"The game is nuts," says Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli. "You know, you can play and things go a certain way for days and days and days at a time, and then you put it together and you put up seven runs in one inning, in extra innings. When I say it's nuts, it's kind of wgt we're all kind of nuts. If you kind of like this, it's kind of, you like it for things like today."
SERIES PREVIEW
Colorado Rockies (23-42, fifth in the NL West) vs. Minnesota Twins (34-31, third in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Monday, 6:40 p.m. Pregame 6:00 p.m. on WCCO Radio and the Audacy App.
PITCHING PROBABLES: MONDAY: Rockies: Dakota Hudson (2-7, 5.25 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 35 strikeouts); Twins: Chris Paddack (4-3, 5.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 61 strikeouts)
TUESDAY: Quantrill (Rockies) TBD (Twins)
WEDNESDAY: Gomber (Rockers) Lopez (Twins)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Twins -217, Rockies +179; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins start a three-game series at home against the Colorado Rockies on Monday.
Minnesota is 16-13 in home games and 34-31 overall. The Twins have the 10th-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .304.
Colorado has a 10-25 record in road games and a 23-42 record overall. The Rockies are 18-5 in games when they out-hit their opponents.
The matchup Monday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ryan Jeffers has 12 home runs, 17 walks and 36 RBI while hitting .237 for the Twins. Carlos Santana is 10-for-34 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.
Elias Diaz has a .305 batting average to lead the Rockies, and has 12 doubles and five home runs. Ezequiel Tovar is 14-for-42 with three home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 4-6, .218 batting average, 4.87 ERA, outscored by eight runs
Rockies: 3-7, .233 batting average, 5.65 ERA, outscored by 27 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Justin Topa: 60-Day IL (knee), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daniel Duarte: 60-Day IL (tricep), Zack Weiss: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Anthony DeSclafani: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Rockies: Brendan Rodgers: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Sean Bouchard: 10-Day IL (ankle), Kris Bryant: 10-Day IL (rib), Justin Lawrence: 15-Day IL (arm), Jordan Beck: 10-Day IL (wrist), Kyle Freeland: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Bird: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Gilbreath: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nolan Jones: 10-Day IL (back), Daniel Bard: 60-Day IL (knee), German Marquez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Antonio Senzatela: 60-Day IL (elbow)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.