The Minnesota Twins are the hottest team in the majors and will attempt to extend their winning streak to 13 games on Sunday when they wrap up a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox in Minneapolis.
The Twins opened the series with a 5-2 victory on Friday and earned a 3-1 win on Saturday.
Minnesota’s 12-game run is tied for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. The Twins also won 12 in a row in 1980. Minnesota won 15 consecutive games during the 1991 season.
Pablo Lopez struck out eight in six innings to earn the win on Saturday and keep the streak alive.
“It’s a good amount of pressure in a good way,” Lopez said. “It’s just one of those things, you don’t want to let (the winning streak) consume you. No one wants to be the guy that makes the streak stop in any way, shape or form, but I think … I took advantage of the momentum — the good thing that we have going on and I kind of let it take over me and then just let things flow, let things happen natural on the mound, just competing.
“I know the guys are playing great ball, offense, defense — they’re gonna make the plays for me. They’re gonna make things happen. It was just a matter of being comfortable on the mound. Being confident.”
Boston enters Sunday’s matchup on a three-game losing streak. The Red Sox have been held to four runs across those three setbacks after scoring 32 in their previous four games.
“It seems like right now, it feels like their attack has been fastball-heavy. That’s a team that spins the ball a lot,” Boston manager Alex Cora said of the Twins. “It’s all about scouting reports and adjustments. So far, in two games, they have the edge.
“We know the offense is going to wake up. We’re going to score runs. It just happens that we lost the first two.”
Sunday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers in Boston’s Cooper Criswell (2-1, 1.65 ERA) and Minnesota’s Joe Ryan (1-1, 3.38).
Criswell was sharp in his last outing, tossing five scoreless innings to earn the win in a 4-0 victory over the Giants on Tuesday. He limited San Francisco to two hits, walked one and struck out four.
Criswell’s only career appearance against Minnesota came last season when he played for the Rays. He faced 14 batters in relief and gave up one hit, walked two, hit a batter and struck out four across 3 1/3 innings in Tampa Bay’s 2-1 victory. Criswell did not factor into the decision.
Ryan has a 3-1 record and a 3.12 ERA in four career starts against Boston. He logged a shutout in a 6-0 victory over the Red Sox last season.
Ryan pitched six innings during Minnesota’s 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday. He allowed two runs on six hits, walked one and struck out three but did not get the win, as the Twins broke a 2-2 tie by scoring in the ninth.
“He’s tough against us,” Cora said of Ryan. “Bunt first and second, safety squeeze or whatever to scratch a few (runs across), and hopefully (Criswell) can go deep into the game and help us win a game.”
–Field Level Media
