| 10 August 2010
A few notes to get you prepared for tonight's show-down between the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins:
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Just three Twins have been able to hit home runs against Freddy Garcia in US Cellular Field: Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau, and Jason Kubel. Both Hunter and Morneau won't be taking the field for Minnesota this evening, so the odds are good that Gardenhire will have Kubel (a 1.767 OPS in 12 career PA against Garcia) somewhere in the lineup.
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Scott Baker has given up six home runs in US Cellular Field over his career, though just eight runs have been scored via the long ball. The Twins hope that Baker will continue his tendency to limit dingers to solo shots, as the White Sox score 25 percent of their runs off home runs.
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If ever there were a time for Baker to improve his low ground-ball percentage (35.9, 10th-worst in league), it would be tonight. When the White Sox have an opportunity to ground into a double play, they do 14 percent of the time. (The same percentage as Minnesota.)
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US Cellular is one of the most homer-friendly parks in the league, which will benefit a powerful Chicago lineup but also allow Minnesota to sneak some offense-first bats into their batting order without much defensive sacrifice.
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Chicago's starting staff is good at throwing first-pitch strikes, getting ahead early in 60.6 percent of opposing plate appearances. Minnesota leads the league in this department, however, with an impressive 63.7 mark. Despite this pitching prowess, both teams' offenses have low walk and strikeout rates, which should mean quite a few balls in play.
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