Minnesota at Detroit

We have to look hard at Santana anytime he takes the mound as an underdog. The fact is that he is the best pitcher in baseball. The Twins are 84-32 (72.4%) in his starts over the last three years. The Twins bats right now are booming, as they have gone 6-3 over their last 9 and have outscored their opponents 56-31 or 6.2-3.4. Santana has allowed two runs or less in 51 of his last 83 starts or 61% of the time. He has also been a notoriously slow starter. When he has pitched before June 29, the Twins have been 43-23 in his starts from June 29. To the end of the season they are 41-9 (82%). He carries a good 10-3 lifetime record against the Tigers, and a 2.70 ERA. The current Tiger’s roster is hitting .244 against Santana lifetime. Jason Verlander has matched Santana this season as he has been superb. He has not fared well against this current cast of Twins however. The current Twins hitters are batting .360 against Verlander (31-86). That isn't the whole story. The Tigers are hitting just .241 in their last seven games and their pen has allowed 12 runs in their last 11 innings pitched, while the Twins’ pen has allowed 3 runs in their last 15. A game that may come down to the pen, offers another advantage to the Twins and when it comes to the closers another one for the Twins. Tiger hitters are just 22-96 against Nathan for a .229 average while the Twins have been 19-59 (.322) against Jones. If this game is as tight as the matchup would indicate, the Tigers are just 4-6 when Verlander does not get the decision, indicating they have coughed it up in the pen. The Twins are good at 17-4 over the last three years when Santana does not get the decision! We will ride the road dog with many advantages in this one.