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The San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins both entered Wednesday night with identical 19-17 records and are looking to further improve their winning records in the series finale in Minnesota on Thursday.
San Diego Padres (-135, 8.5) vs. Minnesota Twins
The Twins look to Bailey Ober to continue his strong start to the season as he’s allowed just two runs across his first three starts of the season, going at least 5 2/3 innings in all three starts.
As a whole the Twins have pitched well, ranking 11th in bullpen ERA entering Wednesday night and third as a team with a 3.35 ERA.
Ober will look to out-duel Yu Darvish, who has allowed one earned run for the Padres in each of his last three starts in the United States and has overall a 3.18 ERA with all three of his home runs allowed this season coming in his start at elevation in Mexico City.
With the two games played in Mexico City excludes, the Padres entered Wednesday averaging 3.8 runs per game with a .225 batting average, both of which were the worst marks in the National League.
The Twins have had tough time at the plate as well, entering Wednesday hitting an MLB-worst .219 with four runs or fewer scored in six of their last seven games in the month of May.
The Twins are tasked with generating runs against a Padres team that allowed three runs or fewer in each of their first seven games in the month of May with extra innings excluded.
Between Darvish and Ober, seven of the eight games they have started the past 35 days have gone under the total and with both offenses experiencing early season struggles, Thursday’s game sets up for another struggle for both lineups.
The Play: Padres vs. Twins Under 8.5