Target Field officially opens its doors for a new season of Twins baseball Thursday. It started with the traditional breakfast on the plaza, and ends with the Twins trying to notch win number three against the Houston Astros.
While the Minnesota Twins go for their third win in a row Thursday, the two-game surge comes after the club dropped four-straight to start the season.
Twins President Derek Falvey tells WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar that injuries have impacted the start of the season. Last week Royce Lewis was placed on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring injury.
"I was with Royce in the training room and I could feel it from him," Falvey said. "He wants to be out there. He wants to help this team. It is frustrating. I think, you know, we're gonna get him back here, he's tracking in a good direction. If we can get him on the field, Carlos Correa really starting to heat up, so did Byron (Buxton) as of yesterday. We feel like we got a really good group of core, real superstar talent that can go lift us along the way."
No clear timeline for his return has been given for Lewis' return. The Twins are also missing key pieces with infielder Brooks Lee out along with relief pitcher Brock Stewart.
Target Field Updates
Target Field welcomed 1,951,616 fans to Twins games last season. While that number was down slightly from the year prior it's not stopping the club from updating the ballpark that opened in 2010.
"Frankly, it's a tribute to the Pohlad family's ownership," says Matt Hoy, the Twins senior vice president of operations. "Jim and after Jim, Joe, have always challenged us to see what can we do to improve the ballpark, to improve the guest experience."
The average major league baseball game ran two hours and 36 minutes last season. Hoy says part of improving the guest experience is making sure they're seeing more on-field action.
"Obviously expediting service is great to get people back to the game so they see more of the game itself," Hoy explains.
Part of that "expediting" comes from changing the most highly-trafficked concession areas of Target Field, replacing the traditional “belly-up” model for food stands at sections 105 and 109 on the main concourse with new open-air, self-serve markets.
"Every year we try to reinvent the ballpark and we try to understand what fans want or what we're missing," Delaware North general manager Peter Spike explains. "So we kind of line things up and say 'what would people want' when they come here looking at trends, looking at, maybe some fan feedback."
Preview
Houston Astros (2-4) vs. Minnesota Twins (2-4)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 3:10 p.m. (Pregame 2:30 on 830 WCCO Radio, 102.9 FM and the Audacy App)
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Hunter Brown (0-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, seven strikeouts); Twins: Joe Ryan (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, five strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Twins -124, Astros +104; over/under is 7 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros are looking to stop their three-game skid with a win over the Minnesota Twins, while the Twins look for a three-game winning streak after an 0-4 start.
Minnesota had an 82-80 record overall and a 43-38 record at home last season. The Twins pitching staff had a collective 4.27 ERA last season while averaging 9.4 strikeouts and 2.7 walks per nine innings.
Houston went 88-73 overall and 42-38 on the road a season ago. The Astros slugged .418 as a team last season with 2.9 extra base hits per game.
INJURIES: Twins: Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brooks Lee: 10-Day IL (back), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Astros: Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Dubin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Forrest Whitley: 15-Day IL (knee), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Luis Garcia: 15-Day IL (elbow), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Kaleb Ort: 15-Day IL (oblique), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee), Lance McCullers Jr.: 15-Day IL (forearm)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.