Red Sox send John Lackey to Target Field mound versus Twins
The Twins hope Game 2 at Target Field yields the same winning result as Monday's grand opening when they take on John Lackey and the Red Sox on Wednesday.
By all accounts, Target Field is a hit with Minnesota fans. It sure was on Monday when the Twins popped Jon Lester and the Red Sox, 5-2, as 115 underdogs.
After taking Tuesday off, Boston and Minnesota return to the Twins' new digs for another afternoon affair on Wednesday. Early offers from several offshore books set the Red Sox and John Lackey as 125-130 favorites again, with the total at 8½ and heavier chalk on the 'over.'
Monday's grand opening marked the first outdoor MLB game in Minnesota since Sept. 30, 1981, when the locals played on old Metropolitan Stadium. Carl Pavano worked six, one-run innings for the Twins before turning it over to a Minnesota bullpen that hasn't shown any signs of being in trouble without their All-Star closer.
Joe Nathan is on the shelf for the season after Tommy John surgery in March. Jon Rauch has assumed the ninth inning job and is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities.
Monday's loss also dropped the Red Sox to 6-12 in their last 18 played in Minneapolis. Boston will hope for better results in the second game of the three-game set when John Lackey takes the mound against Kevin Slowey for the Twins.
Lackey (0-1, 0.00) pitched very well in his Red Sox debut a week ago at Fenway Park. The former Angel was 140 chalk going up against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees, and held New York scoreless for six innings. He left with a 1-0 lead only to see the Yanks tie it to force extra innings, winning it 3-1 in 10.
He faced the Twins one time in 2009, picking up the win in Anaheim with 7 2/3 innings during which he allowed just two runs of what was eventually a 6-3 Angels win. Both runs off Lackey came via Joe Mauer solo blasts. The Minnesota catcher is 9-for-20 lifetime versus Lackey, with the two dingers.
The Angels were 2-3 in Lackey's last five starts versus Minnesota, with the right-hander posting a 3.53 ERA in 35 2/3 innings.
Slowey (1-0, 1.69) also pitched very well in his season debut last Thursday. And he got plenty of support from his lineup in the 10-1 pasting of Lackey's former team out in Anaheim. Slowey went off as a 110 underdog in that one, with the final score shooting above the 9 ½-run total.
The righty out of Conroe, Texas, saw this Boston bunch last year in a May game at the Metrodome, tossing six innings and allowing two runs in Minnesota's 4-2 triumph.
Boston took four of the six games played between the two in 2009, with the totals splitting 3-3. Monday's game, however, marked the fourth consecutive 'under' the two teams have played in Minnesota, though obviously in two different parks.
Mark Wegner has plate duty for the 1:10 p.m. (ET) start on Wednesday. He did not call any games that Slowey pitched a year ago, but did work one Lackey start. Ironically, that was when Lackey was working against his new club in Boston, with the Red Sox on the winning end, 4-1.
While Mother Nature cooperated with fine weather on Monday, the same may not hold true for Wednesday's contest. There's a 60 percent chance of afternoon rain, with temps in the low-to-mid 70s. Winds are forecast from the South at 15-25 mph (RF corner to LF corner).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2009 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
The Twins hope Game 2 at Target Field yields the same winning result as Monday's grand opening when they take on John Lackey and the Red Sox on Wednesday.
By all accounts, Target Field is a hit with Minnesota fans. It sure was on Monday when the Twins popped Jon Lester and the Red Sox, 5-2, as 115 underdogs.
After taking Tuesday off, Boston and Minnesota return to the Twins' new digs for another afternoon affair on Wednesday. Early offers from several offshore books set the Red Sox and John Lackey as 125-130 favorites again, with the total at 8½ and heavier chalk on the 'over.'
Monday's grand opening marked the first outdoor MLB game in Minnesota since Sept. 30, 1981, when the locals played on old Metropolitan Stadium. Carl Pavano worked six, one-run innings for the Twins before turning it over to a Minnesota bullpen that hasn't shown any signs of being in trouble without their All-Star closer.
Joe Nathan is on the shelf for the season after Tommy John surgery in March. Jon Rauch has assumed the ninth inning job and is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities.
Monday's loss also dropped the Red Sox to 6-12 in their last 18 played in Minneapolis. Boston will hope for better results in the second game of the three-game set when John Lackey takes the mound against Kevin Slowey for the Twins.
Lackey (0-1, 0.00) pitched very well in his Red Sox debut a week ago at Fenway Park. The former Angel was 140 chalk going up against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees, and held New York scoreless for six innings. He left with a 1-0 lead only to see the Yanks tie it to force extra innings, winning it 3-1 in 10.
He faced the Twins one time in 2009, picking up the win in Anaheim with 7 2/3 innings during which he allowed just two runs of what was eventually a 6-3 Angels win. Both runs off Lackey came via Joe Mauer solo blasts. The Minnesota catcher is 9-for-20 lifetime versus Lackey, with the two dingers.
The Angels were 2-3 in Lackey's last five starts versus Minnesota, with the right-hander posting a 3.53 ERA in 35 2/3 innings.
Slowey (1-0, 1.69) also pitched very well in his season debut last Thursday. And he got plenty of support from his lineup in the 10-1 pasting of Lackey's former team out in Anaheim. Slowey went off as a 110 underdog in that one, with the final score shooting above the 9 ½-run total.
The righty out of Conroe, Texas, saw this Boston bunch last year in a May game at the Metrodome, tossing six innings and allowing two runs in Minnesota's 4-2 triumph.
Boston took four of the six games played between the two in 2009, with the totals splitting 3-3. Monday's game, however, marked the fourth consecutive 'under' the two teams have played in Minnesota, though obviously in two different parks.
Mark Wegner has plate duty for the 1:10 p.m. (ET) start on Wednesday. He did not call any games that Slowey pitched a year ago, but did work one Lackey start. Ironically, that was when Lackey was working against his new club in Boston, with the Red Sox on the winning end, 4-1.
While Mother Nature cooperated with fine weather on Monday, the same may not hold true for Wednesday's contest. There's a 60 percent chance of afternoon rain, with temps in the low-to-mid 70s. Winds are forecast from the South at 15-25 mph (RF corner to LF corner).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2009 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
