The Oakland A's wrap up a short six game road trip this weekend with three games at the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. The A's lost a chance to gain some ground on the Rangers up in Seattle and will be looking to win a series against one of the hotter teams in baseball. The Twins have scratched and clawed their way to the top of the AL Central division and are coming off a series win at Chicago.
The series opens tonight with Gio Gonzalez and Carl Pavano squaring off. Gonzalez has slowly been putting things and is coming off 7 innings of shutout ball against the Rangers. Gonzalez has made one start against the Twins this year, in which he gave up 1 run over 7 innings. Pavano hasn't been strong in August but otherwise has had a fantastic season, sitting at 14-7 with a 3.28 ERA. His numbers in 2010 are the best he's had since 2004 with the Marlins. Certainly didn't see that coming after last year.
Tomorrow Trevor Cahill looks for his 13th victory against former relief pitcher Brian Duensing. Cahill continues his lights out 2010 looking to extend his streak of no earned runs. Cahill had a 23-inning scoreless streak snapped in his win over Texas last weekend, but he still has a streak of 26 1/3 innings without giving up an earned run. Cahill is currently second in American League in ERA and WHIP. Duensing spent most of the first four months of 2010 as a relief pitcher. The Twins moved him into the starting rotation July 18 and he has actually been quite solid thus far. He has one appearance in 2010 against the A's when he went 2.1 innings and gave up no runs and 2 hits.
The series wraps up on Sunday with a matchup between Vin Mazzaro and Kevin Slowey. Mazzaro is currently 6-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. He lost on Monday at Seattle in spite of holding the Mariners to 3 runs over 7 innings. Aside from a blowup at Texas, Mazzaro has pitched quite well over the past two months, and will be looking for his 7th win on Sunday. Slowey is 10-5 at this point and the beneficiary of some solid run support. The A's will look to take advantage of his sometimes inconsistent performance.
Current Series
3 game series vs Twins @ Target Field
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Oakland Athletics Friday, Aug 13, 2010, 5:10 PM PDT Gio Gonzalez vs Carl Pavano Mostly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from center field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.
Complete Coverage > |
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| Sat 08/14 - Trevor Cahill vs Brian Duensing | 4:10 PM PDT | |
| Sun 08/15 - Vin Mazzaro vs Kevin Slowey | 11:10 AM PDT | |
