Dwayne Bryant
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Major League Baseball
Oakland Athletics (Duchscherer) at Minnesota Twins (Blackburn)</td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ebebeb"> Bonus Play On: Minnesota Twins (Listed Pitchers) -133
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The A's and Justin Duchscherer have fallen on hard times. Oakland has lost 25 of their last 30 games and each of Duchscherer's last six starts. Despite a 2.82 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in his road starts, the A's are just 3-7 in those games. That can be attributed to a lack of offense. I don't see that changing tonight, considering the A's are scoring just 3.38 runs per game over their last 10 contests vs. righties.
Minnesota's Nick Blackburn is 6-2 (team is 8-3) with a 2.90 ERA and 1.24 WHIP at home this season. Those numbers are almost identical to Duchscherer's road numbers. The difference is run support. I already touched on Oakland's lack of offense, but that is not an issue with the Twins -- especially at home. Minny is batting .288 and scoring 5.87 runs per game at home vs. righties this season. The Twins bullpen (2.34 ERA at home) has also been tough at The Metrodome.
The Athletics are 3-13 in their last 16 road games vs. a right-handed starter and 0-4 in Duchscherer's last 4 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance. The Twins are 10-1 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a losing record, 5-1 in their last 6 during game 1 of a series, 5-1 in Blackburn's last 6 starts vs. a team with a losing record, and 5-1 in Blackburn's last 6 home starts.
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<table align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="600"><tbody><tr> <td bgcolor="#cccccc">8:10 PM ET
Major League Baseball
Oakland Athletics (Duchscherer) at Minnesota Twins (Blackburn)</td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ebebeb"> Bonus Play On: Minnesota Twins (Listed Pitchers) -133
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Minnesota's Nick Blackburn is 6-2 (team is 8-3) with a 2.90 ERA and 1.24 WHIP at home this season. Those numbers are almost identical to Duchscherer's road numbers. The difference is run support. I already touched on Oakland's lack of offense, but that is not an issue with the Twins -- especially at home. Minny is batting .288 and scoring 5.87 runs per game at home vs. righties this season. The Twins bullpen (2.34 ERA at home) has also been tough at The Metrodome.
The Athletics are 3-13 in their last 16 road games vs. a right-handed starter and 0-4 in Duchscherer's last 4 starts following a Quality Start in his last appearance. The Twins are 10-1 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a losing record, 5-1 in their last 6 during game 1 of a series, 5-1 in Blackburn's last 6 starts vs. a team with a losing record, and 5-1 in Blackburn's last 6 home starts.
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