The Twins turn to Connor Prielipp on Wednesday night with the chance to take the series from the Athletics in West Sacramento, and the setup doesn’t get much tougher. After dropping the middle game of the three-game set, Minnesota is trying to salvage a road trip that already went south, and this finale carries plenty of weight for the Twins.
Prielipp gets the ball coming off a rough outing against the Padres earlier on the trip. He enters this start at 3-7 with a 5.57 ERA, and the assignment comes in an offense-heavy setting that will ask plenty of him from the first inning on.
Across the diamond, the Athletics are going with J.T. Ginn. He’s 8-8 with a 3.60 ERA this season, and he’s been even sharper at home, where he owns a 3.58 ERA at Sutter Health Park.
First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. CT.
Minnesota’s lineup has a few notable changes. Byron Buxton is out, with Twins manager Derek Shelton saying after Tuesday’s game that it was a regularly scheduled off-day, though the club is still evaluating Buxton after he was pulled from Tuesday’s contest with an injury.
Trevor Larnach is back in the lineup for the first time in this series, and Josh Bell returns as the designated hitter.
Bell has been one of the few Twins swinging a steady bat lately. In the opener, he went 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a hit by pitch, and his RBI double that nearly left the yard off the top of the left-center field wall was a reminder of how dangerous he’s looked. That kind of night could matter if Minnesota is going to get its offense moving.
Kaelen Culpepper has also been a bright spot. The rookie has collected five hits in Sacramento, along with four RBIs, and the Twins will need that run to keep going if they want to leave with a win.
One Athletics bat Minnesota will have to keep quiet is Henry Bolte. He’s been a nuisance for Twins pitching all series, and his numbers at home back that up: a .319 average and an .815 OPS at Sutter Health Park.
In Other News...
Walker Jenkins Decision Will Show Twins Fans What Really Changed
Walker Jenkins is doing everything he can to make the conversation impossible to ignore. The Twins top prospect has been strong in Triple-A, but the club has kept him there while juggling a roster that has already seen prospect Kaelen Culpepper promoted and a handful of pitching additions come in at the trade deadline. Minnesota is still playing from behind in the playoff race, which leaves every roster move under a microscope as the team tries to weigh development against the urgency of the standings.
The eventual decision on Jenkins will say a lot about how much the Twins have changed. In a season where the front office has already shown it can mix patience with short-term upgrades, the handling of a player like Jenkins sits right at the center of that tension. Whether the club leans more toward development or the push for wins now, the choice figures to reflect just how carefully Minnesota is balancing the future against the postseason chase. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Fans Already Have One Big Concern About Walker Jenkins
Walker Jenkins is on the verge of making his way to the Twins, with the club planning to bring up the highly regarded prospect for Fridays game once it clears the necessary roster space. For a fan base that has followed his rise closely, it is the kind of long-awaited development that comes with the usual buzz around a top 20 talent, especially one whose five-tool profile has made him one of the more intriguing young players in the organization.
Still, the excitement has come with a familiar undercurrent of caution. Jenkins has missed time because of injuries, and for all the optimism about what he can become, the biggest question has never really been about the tools. It is about whether he can stay on the field long enough to turn that promise into something the Twins can count on. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Playoff Push Suddenly Has A Center Field Problem
Luke Keaschall has been a useful bat for the Twins, but his defensive profile has shaped how Minnesota uses him. Most of his work has come in a corner outfield spot or at designated hitter, and that limitation became more important when Byron Buxton was injured and the club needed somebody to cover center field. Rather than rush in Walker Jenkins or Emmanuel Rodriguez during the road trip, the Twins kept Keaschall out there and asked him to handle the position through a stretch that only magnified the uncertainty.
The gamble has already shown up in a costly way, with a defensive misplay helping turn a game against the Athletics into a reminder of how thin the margin is in a playoff race. Minnesota still has options on the roster and in the pipeline, but the present setup leaves the club trying to survive in center field while waiting to see whether the next move is a promotion, a shuffle, or simply more of the same. [Read more 🡒]