Friday

Twins: Scott Baker(RH) – 9.15 ERA, 20.2 IP, 26 H, 16 K, 5 BB, 8 HR

– Baker missed the first week of the season with shoulder stiffness, and struggled in spring training too.  Then he came back and gave up seven home runs in 8.2 innings in his first two starts. His third start he showed some improvement – he still gave up four runs over six innings, but they weren’t home runs.  And his fourth start was even better, throwing a no-hitter for six innings before completely falling apart (5 ER and no outs) in the seventh. 

– His primary offspeed pitch is slider, but he’ll mix in curves and changeups.  When he falls behind in the count, he’ll rely on his fastball. 

– Several Mariners have had success against Baker in their career.  Most surprising is Jose Lopez, whose career average is just .271, but who is 9-18 against Baker. 

 

Mariners: Chris Jakubauskas(RH) – 5.76 ERA, 25 IP, 26 H, 11 K, 6 BB, 1 HR

– It’s feel-good story time.  Guy toils in the independent leagues as a pitcher through his early and mid-20s, with no hope in sight of ever being a major leaguer.  Suddenly, he’s signed by a big league club.  Over the next year he races through 3 levels of the minors.   – At the next spring training the 30-year-old pitches his way onto the rotation.  Yes, it’s a feel-good story.  Let’s hope the Twins stomp all over this little Disneyesque fairy tale.

He’s 30, he’s right-handed, he doesn’t strike out many, but also keeps the ball in the park.  – He looks like basically a two-pitch pitcher – fastball and curve.  In his last start, he only threw a changeup twice, and no sliders.  He has trouble finishing off hitters when he’s ahead in the count.

– Left-handers are hitting .308 against him.  That bodes well for the middle of the order. 

 

Saturday

Twins: Twins: Francisco Liriano(LH) – 5.30 ERA, 35.2 IP, 32 H, 29 K, 14 BB, 4 HR

-Liriano was beat up pretty good earlier in the year, but his last two starts have both been quality starts, giving up just two runs in each and going about seven innings. 

– His biggest issue has been his control, but he’s pitched better than his ERA, and he’s also gradually improved this year. 

– Believe it or not, Liriano throws his fastball less than the other Twins starters.  Versus right-handers he’ll throw about 50% fastballs and then 25% sliders and changeups.  Against left-handers, he almost completely abandons the changeup and becomes a two-pitch pitcher. 

– Ichiro is 5-13 against Liriano in his career.  On opening night, Ken Griffey went 1-3 against Liriano, but that hit was a home run. 

 

 

Mariners: Felix Hernandez(RH) – 3.38 ERA, 40 IP, 37 H, 45 K, 10 BB, 3 HR

– Hernandez was supposed to be the next big thing when he came into the majors four years ago.  Such is the problem with hype.  The 22-year-old has over 666 innings under his belt already and a career 3.80 ERA – and still people are disappointed with him.  We should all have such disappointment.  

– He leans most on the fastball, but he has three offspeed pitches and uses them all equally.  Also, his pitch selection doesn’t change much – ahead in the count, behind in the count, two strikes, first pitch – with one exception.  Versus left-handed batters, he’ll use his changeup quite a bit, but he almost never uses it against right-handers.  

– You may remember that he started against the Twins on Opening Night (the Mariners won) but that he hurt his ankle.  That’s bothered him throughout the season so far.  His last starts was his worst of the year, and most telling is that he gave up a lot of fly balls which isn’t his style.

– He’s dominated most Twins throughout his career, with the BIG exception of Joe Mauer who is 8-14 with a home run against him. 

 

Sunday

Twins: N. Blackburn – 5.19 ERA, 34.2 IP, 44 H, 13 K, 10 BB, 3 HR

– Blackburn has been remarkable consistent this year, going 5-7 innings, and giving up 2-4 runs in most of his starts.  If the definition of a good starting pitcher is that he “give you a chance to win”, then Blackburn is a good starting pitcher.

– Or at least he was before his last outing.  In a clunker versus the Tigers, he gave up six earned runs (and nine runs total) in just 3.1 innings.  To be fair, the Twins defense was absolutely brutal that day.

– Endy Chavez is 3-3 against Blackburn over his career.  Adrian Beltre is 3-5 with 4 RBI against him. 

 

Mariners: Erik Bedard – 2.37 ERA, 38 IP, 34 H, 39 K, 6 BB, 3 HR

– The 30-year-old left-hander is a heck of a pitcher when he’s healthy.  Unfortunately for the Mariners, he hasn’t been healthy much since they traded for him prior to 2008.  Unfortunately for the Twins, he is now. 

– He doesn’t change things up much.  He throws his fastball about 2/3 of the time and relies on his curveball most of the rest of the time.  And it doesn’t matter much what the count is or who he’s facing, though he’ll mix in a few more changeups when facing right-handed batters.

– Justin Morneau has owned Bedard, with 8 hits in 16 at-bats including two home runs.  But in the opening series of the year, Morneau went 0-3 against him.  So maybe he’s due.