The Twins start a six-game homestand at Target Field starting Tuesday night, just across the plaza from where the Wolves open the second round of the NBA playoffs against Golden State, making it a busy night downtown.
Twins Baseball Operations President Derek Falvey is excited for a different reason though: they are finally getting close to full strength with Royce Lewis and Willi Castro coming off the injured list.
"When he went down in spring training, we knew we were gonna have a hole in our lineup," Falvey says. "He's such a game-changing type of player and the fact that he's now back and ready to go, had a good, good rehab stint in St. Paul, we get him and we get Willi Castro back, who's been kind of a Swiss Army Knife for us and played all over the field."
Falvey tells Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that those guys will help an improving offensive attack.
"When you go back to opening day and where we were, you know, the offense was really having a tough time getting going," Falvey said. "We were pitching well and have continued to pitch well over the course of the last three to four weeks, and you're seeing the offense pick it up."
SERIES PREVIEW
Baltimore Orioles (13-20, fifth in the AL East) vs. Minnesota Twins (15-20, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. Pregame, 6:00 p.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy app (in-market restrictions apply).
PITCHING PROBABLES: Tuesday - Orioles: Cade Povich (1-2, 5.16 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 25 strikeouts); Twins: Pablo Lopez (2-2, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)
Wednesday - Orioles: TBD, Twins: Woods Richardson
Thursday - Orioles: Kremer, Twins: Ryan
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Twins -161, Orioles +136; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Baltimore Orioles travel to the Minnesota Twins looking to break a three-game road losing streak.
Minnesota has a 9-6 record in home games and a 15-20 record overall. The Twins have gone 7-4 in games when they did not give up a home run.
Baltimore has a 5-11 record in road games and a 13-20 record overall. The Orioles have an 8-16 record in games when they have allowed at least one home run.
The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting this season between the two clubs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Trevor Larnach has two doubles and four home runs for the Twins. Ryan Jeffers is 13-for-36 with four doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.
Adley Rutschman has four doubles and four home runs for the Orioles. Ryan O'Hearn is 10-for-35 with a double and four home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 6-4, .281 batting average, 2.89 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Orioles: 4-6, .227 batting average, 5.38 ERA, outscored by 27 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Luke Keaschall: 10-Day IL (forearm), Matt Wallner: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Orioles: Ramon Urias: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Grayson Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Colton Cowser: 60-Day IL (thumb), Jordan Westburg: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Gary Sanchez: 10-Day IL (wrist), Tyler O'Neill: 10-Day IL (neck), Cody Poteet: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Zachary Eflin: 15-Day IL (lat), Albert Suarez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Rogers: 15-Day IL (knee), Andrew Kittredge: 15-Day IL (knee), Tyler Wells: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Bradish: 60-Day IL (elbow)